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2023 NBA Qualifying Offer Recap

June 30th, 2023 at 7:06am 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 $136,021,000 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 $50K guarantee unless otherwise indicated.

Did not receive qualifying offers:

Players on standard contracts:

Players on two-way contracts:

Note: Some of the players listed below may not have been eligible for a qualifying offer due to the limited time they spent on a two-way contract.

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Extension Candidate: Jaden McDaniels

June 29th, 2023 at 6:12am CST by Rory Maher

This is the first installment in our 2023 series examining players who are prime candidates for contract extensions. This series will explore the player’s strengths and weaknesses, and will evaluate what a fair deal between the player and his team might look like (McDaniels will be extension-eligible when the new league year kicks in at midnight ET on Friday night).

Rundown

The 28th overall pick of the 2020 draft after one up-and-down college season at Washington, Jaden McDaniels became a rotation player almost immediately as a rookie for the Timberwolves, appearing in 63 games (27 starts) with averages of 6.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG and 1.0 BPG on .447/.364/.600 shooting in 24.0 MPG.

His second NBA season saw signs of progress in some ways, but regression in others. That isn’t meant to be a criticism – it’s simply a reality for most young players.

For example, his offensive role increased in 2021/22, with McDaniels averaging 9.2 points and 4.2 boards in 70 games (31 starts, 25.8 MPG). He also bolstered his two-point (54.4% to 57.9%) and free throw percentages (60.0% to 80.3%). However, his three-point percentage dropped to 31.7%, which leveled out his efficiency gains in other areas, and his foul rate increased.

Minnesota was bullish on the young forward’s upside, so the team kept him out of the Rudy Gobert trade, reportedly giving up a couple extra first-round picks instead. While that deal certainly was not favorable for the Wolves overall (to put it mildly), retaining McDaniels is at least looking like the correct decision.

Former first round-picks who have both of their team options exercised become eligible for rookie scale extensions in the offseason after their third year, as is the case here. So ‘22/23 was an important season for McDaniels, particularly from a financial perspective.

He responded with a career year, averaging 12.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .517/.398/.736 shooting in 79 games, all starts (30.6 MPG). He also posted a career-best 58.8% two-point percentage, with a major leap in his scoring efficiency (61.1% True Shooting percentage, vs. 55.2% and 55.3% in his previous two seasons).

Unfortunately, in the last game of the regular season with the Wolves vying for the postseason during the best individual stretch of basketball of his pro career, he punched a curtain that he didn’t realize had a cement wall behind it and broke his right hand. The fact that both McDaniels and Naz Reid (who just signed a three-year, $42MM extension) were injured for the play-in and playoffs right when they were peaking is an overlooked and promising aspect of the Wolves’ offseason, as there is reason to believe they’ll keep improving.

Strengths

At 6’9” with a 6’11” wingspan, McDaniels has elite length for a small forward. He’s a smooth, graceful athlete who is fast in the open court and quick on his feet in tight spaces, which is rare for a player his size.

He uses those tools to navigate screens, contest shots and cover ground on the less glamorous end of the court. McDaniels is one of top perimeter defenders in the NBA, as he received the 12th-most votes of any player for the ‘22/23 All-Defensive Teams, just missing out on the honor (I will never understand why there are two only two All-D teams and three All-NBA teams – more defensive players deserve to be recognized).

Despite having a thin frame, McDaniels is tenacious defensively and plays with an edge on both ends when he’s at his best. He doesn’t shy away from contact, especially if he has momentum.

McDaniels is an extremely versatile defender, with the ability to guard four positions – even five at times. He has strong instincts and is almost always tasked with defending the opposing teams’ best perimeter player. He’s elite on the ball, with excellent lateral footwork and recovering ability. McDaniels’ height allows him to see over the top of screens, and his length allows him to play a few feet off some of the point guards he’s tasked with defending, giving him extra space to maneuver. He’s also a strong weak-side rim protector and reacts well in “help the helper” scenarios.

McDaniels is a versatile offensive player, and a big part of his success in ‘22/23 wasn’t what you’d expect for someone who gets the generic “3-and-D” label – he actually attempted more twos and fewer threes.

I think the Wolves were placing McDaniels in a box a bit early in his career as far as only spotting up for threes at times. He showed throughout last season that he’s more effective – and keeps defenders more off balance – when he’s able to use other parts of his game as well.

Being a plus leaper with plus size makes him a natural lob threat. He has good timing when cutting to the basket, and is a good finisher at the rim. He can pump-fake and drive, handle the ball with both hands, initiate a fast break, run a bit of pick and roll, has a mid-range pull-up jumper, and shot nearly 40% from deep. McDaniels is more skilled than his scoring average might lead you to believe.

Granted, McDaniels’ offensive role was fairly modest for much of last season — he averaged just 8.6 shot attempts per game (55 games) leading up to the trade deadline. That number rose to 10.5 per game (23 healthy games) after the Wolves traded D’Angelo Russell (a score-first guard) for Mike Conley (a pass-first point guard) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker in February.

Another big benefit for McDaniels is that he won’t turn 23 until the end of September, which means there’s theoretically plenty more time for improvement. He was a top-10 recruit entering college, so it’s not a new thing that he’s viewed as having considerable upside.

Weaknesses

While McDaniels is an all-around very strong defender, he’s a subpar rebounder for his position, pulling down just 3.9 boards in 30.6 minutes per game. His other weakness on that end is that he can be foul prone, which can be frustrating when paired with Karl-Anthony Towns’ own undisciplined fouls. That has been an issue in each of his three seasons.

A lack of weight and strength, combined with a high center of gravity, means McDaniels can be bullied off his spots at times. That works against him on both ends of the court, even if his speed and agility help make up for it to an extent. He’s definitely no pushover and doesn’t back down, but if you get into his chest, you can move him.

The 22-year-old’s decision-making can be a little dicey on both ends of the court. He’ll get caught in the air sometimes when going up for a shot, for example, and bites on occasional pump fakes. Cutting down on bad fouls would be a boon for his game. He doesn’t have great feel as a passer.

McDaniels doesn’t always take advantage of mismatches. He’s capable of driving past slower players and shooting over smaller ones, but sometimes he can be passive.

It’s hard to know how legitimate his three-point shooting was in ‘22/23 because his percentages have been all over the place in his career despite fairly consistent attempts. Having a more balanced shot distribution was a positive for his game overall, no doubt, but I’m curious to see if he’ll keep making outside shots at a high level long term.

I could easily see McDaniels becoming a player who scores in the high teens offensively. I’m not sure he can get to 20-plus, though it’s certainly possible if things break the right way. He’s a good ball-handler for his size, but not a great one, and his shot comes and goes.

Conclusion

McDaniels is a young, talented two-way player who brings versatility all over the court. If you were building a wing player from scratch to play defense, he isn’t far off from what you’d be looking for. He has also been pretty durable thus far.

There’s no question that he is highly valued by both the Wolves and all the other 29 teams in the league. He might not be a household name, but he’s going to get a major payday. The question is, how much?

The sample size of McDaniels being a significant contributor to winning is one season. He was very good in that one season, but it’s still only one season. He’s going to get paid based on what he could become just as much as who he currently is. There’s always some risk in that proposition.

McDaniels’ floor in an extension is probably four years, $90MM. That’s what Mikal Bridges got a few years ago and what De’Andre Hunter received before last season started. I thought Hunter got overpaid based on his past results and injury problems, and I would take McDaniels over him in a trade without hesitation.

It’s actually challenging to find a player who compares to McDaniels because he’s only 22, is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league at 6’9”, is a plus athlete, and has an interesting blend of offensive skills. He can’t create his own shot like the former No. 1 overall pick can, but I can see a little bit of Andrew Wiggins in his game. People thought Wiggins was underpaid when he got a four-year, $109MM extension last year.

Something in the middle of those two figures sounds about right to me for McDaniels. If he gets a four-year deal, I think he’s probably in line for around $100MM. The new CBA allows for five-year, non-max rookie scale extensions, and if he wants the extra year of security, I could see him getting about $125MM. $25MM annually is a lot for a role player, but he has a chance to be a special one and was already very good last season.

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Community Shootaround: Porzingis To Celtics

June 25th, 2023 at 9:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

For many teams, the biggest offseason move has yet to be made. Free agency is approaching and some big-name players could still be dealt.

In the Celtics’ case, the major acquisition this offseason has seemingly already taken place. The three-team deal for Kristaps Porzingis was a bold and risky move by a storied franchise seeking its first championship since 2008.

Porzingis changes the dynamic of the Celtics’ frontcourt. The oft-injured 7’3’’ big man played 65 games for the Wizards – his most since the 2016/17 season – and regained his All-Star form. He averaged a career-high 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks. He also drained 38.5% of his 3-point attempts.

Porzingis could play either power forward or center, depending upon how Joe Mazzulla wants to match up with the opposition. He might play alongside Robert Williams or Al Horford, assuming another trade isn’t made, with Jayson Tatum at small forward and Jaylen Brown at shooting guard in bigger lineups.

Alternatively, he could man the middle with Tatum and Brown playing the forward spots.

Of course, there was a price to pay for Porzingis. He opted into his $36MM contract and the Celtics are reportedly looking to sign him to extension.

That would give them three giants salary commitments with Porzingis, Tatum and Brown eating up significant cap space.

It’s unlikely Porzingis will match his offensive numbers from last season with Tatum and Brown in the lineup. However, he’ll give the Celtics a much more potent option compared to the aging Horford and defensive-minded Williams. He’ll also give the Celtics a lot more size defensively to combat Eastern Conference rivals Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giving up Marcus Smart was a calculated risk just one season removed from being the Defensive Player of the Year. Smart’s toughness and leadership will be missed and the perimeter defense could suffer without him.

Derrick White figures to take a bigger role and they’ll have to hope Malcolm Brogdon’s elbow injury won’t require surgery. Payton Pritchard should also get the playing time he craves.

That brings us to our topic of the day: What do you think of the Celtics’ acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis? Will it make them the team to beat in the Eastern Conference or will they regret trading Marcus Smart for the oft-injured big man?

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

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2023 NBA Offseason Trades

June 23rd, 2023 at 7:23am CST by Luke Adams

As we did with last year’s offseason trades and the in-season swaps from 2022/23, Hoops Rumors will be keeping track of all of the trades made this offseason, right up until the start of the 2023/24 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.

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 2023 offseason trades:

2023/24 League Year

October 17

October 1

September 27

July 17

  • Spurs acquire Cameron Payne, the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick, and cash ($5,685,000).
  • Suns acquire the Spurs’ 2024 second-round pick (top-49 and 55-60 protected).

July 17

  • Suns acquire the Nuggets’ 2024 second-round pick, either the Magic’s, Pistons’, or Bucks’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable), and the Celtics’ 2028 second-round pick (top-45 protected).
  • Magic acquire the right to swap their own 2026 first-round pick for either the Suns’ or Wizards’ 2026 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

July 12

  • Mavericks acquire Grant Williams (sign-and-trade), the Spurs’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Spurs’ 2028 second-round pick.
  • Spurs acquire Reggie Bullock and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.
  • Celtics acquire either the Pelicans’ or Bulls’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Spurs), the Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick, and the right to swap the most favorable of the Wizards’, Warriors’, and Pistons’ 2025 second-round picks with the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

July 12

July 11

  • Grizzlies acquire Isaiah Todd, the right to swap their own 2024 first-round pick for either the Suns’ or Wizards’ 2024 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable), and the right to swap their own 2030 first-round pick for either the Suns’ or Wizards’ 2030 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
  • Suns acquire the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2028 second-round pick, and the Grizzlies’ 2029 second-round pick.

July 8

  • Rockets acquire Dillon Brooks (sign-and-trade), the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick, the Grizzlies’ 2027 second-round pick (from Clippers), and the draft rights to Alpha Kaba (from Hawks).
    • Note: If the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick is more favorable than the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks, the Rockets would instead receive the second-most favorable of those four picks.
  • Hawks acquire Usman Garuba, TyTy Washington, the Timberwolves’ 2025 second-round pick (from Rockets), the Rockets’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash ($1.1MM; from Thunder).
  • Grizzlies acquire Josh Christopher and the draft rights to Vanja Marinkovic (from Clippers).
  • Thunder acquire Patty Mills, the Rockets’ 2024 second-round pick, the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Rockets’ 2030 second-round pick.
  • Clippers acquire Kenyon Martin Jr.

July 8

  • Cavaliers acquire Damian Jones.
  • Jazz acquire cash ($110K).

July 7

  • Jazz acquire John Collins.
  • Hawks acquire Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies’ 2026 second-round pick (43-60 protected).

July 7

  • Pacers acquire Obi Toppin.
  • Knicks acquire either the Suns’ or Pacers’ 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) and either the Pacers’ or Wizards’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

July 6

  • Kings acquire Chris Duarte.
  • Pacers acquire the Mavericks’ 2028 second-round pick and the Kings’ 2030 second-round pick.

July 6

  • Pistons acquire Monte Morris.
  • Wizards acquire either the Mavericks’ or Nets’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).

July 6

July 6

  • Cavaliers acquire Max Strus (sign-and-trade).
  • Spurs acquire Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable), the Cavaliers’ 2030 second-round pick, and cash ($1MM; from Cavaliers).
  • Heat acquire the Lakers’ 2026 second-round pick and either the Spurs’, Rockets’, Pacers’, Thunder’s, or Heat’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

July 6

July 6

  • Rockets acquire Patty Mills and the Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick.
  • Nets acquire the Nets’ 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected).
  • Note: The Rockets acquired the Nets’ 2024 second-round pick in a prior trade. Houston would keep the pick if it lands between 31-55.

July 6

  • Thunder acquire Victor Oladipo, the Heat’s 2029 second-round pick, and the Heat’s 2030 second-round pick.
  • Heat acquire cash ($110K).

July 6

July 6

  • Pistons acquire Joe Harris, the Mavericks’ 2027 second-round pick, and the Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick.
  • Nets acquire cash ($110K).

2022/23 League Year:

June 30

  • Clippers acquire the draft rights to Balsa Koprivica.
  • Pistons acquire cash ($2.1MM).

June 28

  • Bulls acquire the draft rights to Julian Phillips (No. 35 pick).
  • Wizards acquire the Bulls’ 2026 second-round pick and the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick.

June 28

  • Hawks acquire the draft rights to Mouhamed Gueye (No. 39 pick).
  • Celtics acquire the Hawks’ 2027 second-round pick.

June 28

  • Kings acquire the draft rights to Colby Jones (No. 34 pick).
  • Celtics acquire the draft rights to Jordan Walsh (No. 38 pick) and the Mavericks’ 2024 second-round pick.

June 28

June 28

  • Pistons acquire the draft rights to Marcus Sasser (No. 25 pick).
  • Celtics acquire the draft rights to James Nnaji (No. 31 pick); either the Pistons’ (56-60 protected), Warriors’, or Wizards’ 2025 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable); and either the Timberwolves’, Pelicans’, Knicks’, or Trail Blazers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).

June 24

  • Suns acquire Bradley Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
  • Wizards acquire Chris Paul; Landry Shamet; the draft rights to Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7 pick); the Suns’ second-round picks in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2030; first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030; and cash ($4.6MM; from Suns).
  • Pacers acquire the draft rights to Jarace Walker (No. 8 pick), the Suns’ 2028 second-round pick, and the Wizards’ 2029 second-round pick.
  • Note: The Wizards will have the ability to swap their own first-round pick with the Suns’ first-rounder in 2024, 2026, and 2030. In 2028, the Wizards will have the ability to swap their own first-round pick with whichever one the Suns control (it could be the Suns’ own, the Nets’ first-rounder, or the Sixers’ first-rounder).

June 23

  • Nuggets acquire the draft rights to Julian Strawther (No. 29 pick), the draft rights to Jalen Pickett (No. 32 pick), the draft rights to Hunter Tyson (No. 37 pick), and either the Timberwolves’ or Hornets’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Thunder).
  • Thunder acquire the Nuggets’ 2029 first-round pick (top-five protected).
  • Pacers acquire either the Thunder’s, Clippers’, Rockets’ (top-four protected), or Jazz’s (top-10 protected) 2024 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable); the draft rights to Mojave King (No. 47 pick); and cash ($4,363,000; from Lakers).
  • Lakers acquire the draft rights to Maxwell Lewis (No. 40 pick).

June 23

June 23

June 22

  • Timberwolves acquire the draft rights to Leonard Miller (No. 33 pick).
  • Spurs acquire the the Jazz’s 2026 second-round pick and the Timberwolves’ 2028 second-round pick.

June 22

  • Bucks acquire the draft rights to Andre Jackson Jr. (No. 36 pick).
  • Magic acquire the Bucks’ 2030 second-round pick and cash.
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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Denver Nuggets

June 21st, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

After winning at least one playoff series for three consecutive years from 2019-21, the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round of the 2022 postseason in just five games. They subsequently opened the 2022 offseason by losing their longtime president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, to the division-rival Timberwolves.

While it may have looked from the outside like the Nuggets were facing an identity crisis, there was no panic within the organization. Connelly’s top lieutenant, Calvin Booth, was promoted to run the front office, and he opted not to make any drastic changes to the roster, betting that a few tweaks – along with the anticipated returns of injured starters Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. – would be enough to make Denver a legitimate title threat.

After signing Bruce Brown in free agency and trading guards Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington for a package headlined by three-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets got off to a strong start last fall and maintained their pace for months, holding the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference from December 20 until the end of the regular season.

Denver faltered just once, losing 10 of its last 17 games entering the postseason, which raised some concerns about whether the team was prepared to make a deep playoff run. But the Nuggets quickly silenced any doubts, winning 16 of their next 20 games and capping a dream season with the first championship in franchise history.

While Booth won’t be able to rest on his laurels this summer following an unimpeachable first year on the job, he’s the only NBA general manager who will be entering the offseason looking to keep a championship team intact rather than seeking ways to upgrade a roster that fell short of that goal.

The Nuggets’ Offseason Plan

The same group of players that wins a championship one year is hardly guaranteed to win another the following season, but it still has to be encouraging for Booth and the front office that nearly the entire core of the 2022/23 Nuggets remains under contract for next season.

Nikola Jokic, Murray, Porter, Aaron Gordon, and Caldwell-Pope, each of whom started all 20 playoff games for Denver and averaged at least 32 minutes apiece, have guaranteed contracts for next season, with all but Caldwell-Pope under team control for multiple years (KCP has a 2024/25 player option).

With that foundation in place – and up-and-coming role players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson locked up for several more seasons – the Nuggets can focus this summer on their supporting cast, starting with Brown, a jack-of-all-trades who was the club’s most-used reserve in the postseason.

Because Denver got such a bargain on Brown’s contract a year ago, the team will be limited in its ability to give him a raise for 2023/24, assuming the veteran guard declines his $6.8MM player option. The Nuggets will hold his Non-Bird rights, allowing them to offer up to 120% of his $6.48MM salary from this past season.

Brown will almost certainly get offers that feature a starting salary higher than the $7.77MM Denver can give him, but that doesn’t mean he’s a lock to sign elsewhere. The 26-year-old spoke in the wake of the Nuggets’ title win about his desire to remain with the team, suggesting that “money isn’t everything.”

And as we noted at the time, there’s a precedent for a player with Non-Bird rights accepting a below-market deal from a team he won a title with, then getting a raise on a long-term deal the following year when he has Early Bird rights. Bobby Portis took this route with the Bucks after the team’s 2021 championship.

If the Nuggets bring back Brown on a Non-Bird contract, it would push the team’s guaranteed salaries close to $171MM for 10 players, which would – barring a cost-cutting move – make it nearly impossible to use the full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5MM) and stay below the projected second tax apron ($179.5MM), since they’ll need to carry at least 14 players.

If Brown departs in free agency, that taxpayer MLE would be in play. It wouldn’t necessarily need to be used on someone who will assume Brown’s exact role, since the Nuggets are reportedly confident in Braun’s and Watson’s ability to play more backcourt minutes next season. If they have the MLE available, the Nuggets could look to add depth at virtually any position, including backup center.

Among the team’s unrestricted free agents, Thomas Bryant and Reggie Jackson didn’t play major roles after being acquired in February and may not be great bets to return. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team makes an effort to bring back Jeff Green and/or Ish Smith.

Green, in particular, was part of the postseason rotation and has spoken about wanting to finish his career in Denver. And it seems safe to assume Smith would rather stick with the defending champions than join the 14th NBA team of his career if the Nuggets are willing to bring him back.

The Nuggets, having already agreed to a trade with the Thunder earlier this month, will also control a pair of second-round picks at No. 37 and No. 40, which should be used to help fill out next season’s roster in some form or another.

There have been rumblings that Denver is looking into the possibility of trading into the first round, using some combination of this year’s second-rounders and a future first-rounder. If that doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world — there will still be solid prospects available in the 37-40 range, and those players would cost less toward the Nuggets’ 2023/24 tax bill than minimum-salary veterans or a first-round rookie would.

With few changes expected to Denver’s roster this summer, the club’s most significant offseason move could be signing Murray to an extension, since he’ll be eligible for a new deal as of July 24. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the two sides decide to put that off for another year though. Murray remains under contract for two more seasons and could qualify for a super-max extension if he makes an All-NBA team in either of those two years.

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. 37 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • No. 40 overall pick (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Jamal Murray (veteran)
  • Zeke Nnaji (rookie scale)

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 the players listed in italics remain on the Nuggets’ 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: $9,125,000
    • Note: Expires on July 6.
  • Trade exception: $3,475,000
    • Note: Expires on June 23.
  • Trade exception: $2,201,520
  • Trade exception: $1,902,133
  • Trade exception: $370,297
    • Note: Expires on July 6.

Note: The Nuggets would lose the taxpayer mid-level exception if their team salary is above the second tax apron; they 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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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

June 18th, 2023 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Twelve games into the 2022/23 NBA season, the Lakers sat at the very bottom of the league’s standings. Despite relatively good health from Anthony Davis and LeBron James, as well as Russell Westbrook‘s willingness to buy into new head coach Darvin Ham‘s plan to bring him off the bench, L.A. got off to a dismal 2-10 start.

With the Lakers’ season seemingly headed for disaster, speculation ran rampant. Would the team consider trading Davis? Would James – whose new contract extension made him ineligible to be dealt during the season – ask to be moved in the summer? Would the Lakers’ first-round pick, which the Pelicans controlled in a swap, be used to get Victor Wembanyama to New Orleans?

The Lakers didn’t panic though. They were able to tread water long enough to remain in the playoff hunt at the trade deadline, at which point they exhibited their belief in the Davis/James foundation by making a series of trades to complement that core despite being several games below .500. Westbrook’s $47MM+ expiring contract, a lightly protected 2027 first-round pick, and a handful of second-rounders helped the team land D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Mohamed Bamba.

The impact was immediate. Despite missing James for most of March due to a foot injury, the Lakers went 18-8 down the stretch, won their first and only play-in game, then knocked off the No. 2 Grizzlies and defending-champion Warriors to make the Western Conference Finals. They didn’t win a game against the eventual champion Nuggets in that series, but they played Denver as tough as any playoff opponent did, losing those four contests by a total of just 24 points.

With LeBron turning 39 years old in December, there’s still a sense of urgency in Los Angeles to make the most of a title window that could close in a year or two, but the Lakers will at least enter the 2023 offseason having alleviated some of the pressure that led to that Davis- and James-related trade speculation last fall.

The Lakers’ Offseason Plan

When the Lakers acquired Westbrook in 2021, the thinking was that a third star could help ease the burden on Davis and James, take on a greater role if one of those players missed time due to an injury, and perhaps even become AD’s co-star if LeBron decided to call it a career within the next few seasons.

Westbrook wasn’t the right fit, but the logic was sound enough. Two years later, after seeing how poorly the Westbrook experiment went and how well the team played with complementary pieces surrounding their two remaining stars, the Lakers will have a decision to make: Do they try to run it back and stick with the two-star model that worked so well in recent months, or will they look to construct another Big Three, knowing that LeBron’s days in Los Angeles – and in the NBA – could be numbered?

Going the cap-room route in order to create space to sign a star free agent probably isn’t a route the team will take. If the Lakers were to guarantee Vanderbilt’s modest salary for 2023/24, issue a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Austin Reaves, and divest themselves of the rest of their non-guaranteed contracts (including declining options and renouncing free agent cap holds), they could create nearly $28MM in cap room. And they could even push that number a little higher by trading their No. 17 overall pick and/or Max Christie.

But that still wouldn’t be enough to offer anything close to a maximum-salary contract to a free agent like Kyrie Irving, and it would mean sacrificing some depth — notably, Hachimura couldn’t be re-signed and the mid-level exception couldn’t be used in that scenario. It makes more sense for the Lakers to operate over the cap, retaining the cap holds of Hachimura (another RFA) and Russell, while perhaps also negotiating with other unrestricted free agents like Dennis Schröder.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Lakers simply have to bring back the same group. Trading for an impact player who is already under contract isn’t out of the question. If L.A. believes it has a chance to acquire that sort of player, the club could guarantee Bamba’s $10.3MM salary for next season and pick up Beasley’s $16.5MM team option and use those expiring contracts for matching purposes. This year’s No. 17 pick and the Lakers’ 2029 first-rounder could also be dealt.

There are roadblocks in play there though. Star guards like Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard have massive contracts that would require more than just the combined salaries of Beasley and Bamba to match — a sign-and-trade of one of the Lakers’ own free agents would probably be necessary, which would complicate matters. Based on recent reports, L.A. doesn’t appear to be seriously in the mix for Beal anyway, and we don’t know yet whether Lillard will even seek a trade out of Portland.

The Bulls are said to be gauging Zach LaVine‘s value on the trade market, but he’s a subpar defender who is on a massive contract and has no history of postseason success. As good a scorer and shooter as LaVine is, the Lakers may not be eager to upend their roster to land him.

A sign-and-trade for a free agent like Irving or Fred VanVleet wouldn’t be impossible, but it would be challenging, both for salary-matching reasons and because a sign-and-trade acquisition would hard-cap the Lakers at the first tax apron. If they hope to bring back Reaves and Hachimura on market-value deals and sign-and-trade for a top point guard, the Lakers would probably need Irving or VanVleet to accept a team-friendly offer to make it work. Even then, there’s no guarantee Dallas or Toronto would play ball.

The simplest – and seemingly most likely – path for the team this offseason would be to play it relatively safe: Negotiate new long-term contracts with Reaves and Hachimura or match any offer sheets they sign, even if it’s a back-loaded Arenas Provision offer for Reaves; re-sign Russell to a shorter-term deal; use the mid-level exception to re-sign Schröder (who will only have Non-Bird rights) and/or add another player; and keep an eye out for supplemental pieces in free agency who could be willing to sign minimum-salary contracts to play in L.A. for a contender (Chris Paul, maybe?).

The No. 17 pick is also an asset that shouldn’t be overlooked. This Lakers’ front office has a solid history of identifying young talent, having drafted well and found some undrafted gems like Reaves and Alex Caruso. If that pick is retained, it could be used to acquire a young, affordable player who might be able to play regular minutes as a rookie. As a trade chip, it could be packaged with a player on an expiring contract like Bamba or Beasley to bring in a useful veteran on a multiyear deal.

If the Lakers don’t find a trade they like by June 29 involving Beasley or Bamba, I’d probably let Bamba go, but I’d seriously consider picking up Beasley’s option. While Beasley’s price tag is a little higher than you’d hope, his outside shooting is a valuable skill that would be hard to replace on the cheap, whereas the Lakers could probably find a productive enough part-time center for the veteran’s minimum, like they did during the 2022 offseason when they signed Thomas Bryant.

It’s not an easy decision though, especially when factoring in how new contracts for Reaves, Hachimura, and Russell could affect the Lakers’ team salary. Even without Bamba’s salary on the books, there may not be enough room to bring Beasley back and use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception. Turning down Beasley’s option and trying to re-sign him at a more cap-friendly rate may be prudent, since they’d hold his Bird rights.

As the Lakers showed this past year, a team doesn’t necessarily have to be fully formed out of the gates, given that the in-season trade market offers real opportunities for roster transformations. Rob Pelinka and the front office will certainly explore every avenue to significantly upgrade the rotation this summer in an effort to maximize the final season of LeBron’s 30s (for what it’s worth, I don’t buy that he’s a real threat to retire this summer, but a 2024 exit is conceivable).

However, the team will likely be reluctant to give up any of the important role players that keyed its spring success. If those players are re-signed or otherwise retained and no major additions are made, the Lakers would be in position to be a player again at the 2024 trade deadline if needed.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Mohamed Bamba ($10,300,000)
    • Note: Bamba’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 29.
  • Jarred Vanderbilt ($4,398,000)
    • Note: Vanderbilt’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before June 30.
  • Shaquille Harrison ($2,413,304)
  • Total: $17,111,304

Restricted Free Agents

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 17 overall pick ($3,640,200)
  • No. 47 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • Total: $3,640,200

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Malik Beasley (veteran)
  • Anthony Davis (veteran)
  • D’Angelo Russell (veteran)
  • Jarred Vanderbilt (veteran)

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

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for the players listed in italics remain on the Lakers’ 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
  • Trade exception: $2,700,000
  • Trade exception: $2,298,385
  • Trade exception: $1,836,090
  • Trade exception: $1,836,090

Note: The Lakers would lose access to the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception if their team salary surpasses the tax apron. If the Lakers go under the cap to use room, they’ll lose access to all of these exceptions and will gain access to the room exception.

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Miami Heat

June 17th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

An injury-plagued 2022/23 regular season saw the Heat go 44-38, barely making the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the East after winning their second play-in game. The rest of the postseason was an entirely different story, with Miami making one of the most remarkable runs in league history.

The Heat dispatched the NBA’s best regular season team, the Bucks, in the first round, defeated the No. 5 seed Knicks in the second round, and triumphed over the Celtics – who held the league’s second-best regular season record – in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The last series was a roller coaster, with Miami reeling off three straight wins – including the first two in Boston – only to see the Celtics rally to even the series at 3-3. The Heat emerged victorious in Game 7 in Boston, getting revenge after being eliminated by the Celtics in similar circumstances last year.

Miami’s Cinderella run ended in the NBA Finals, with the Heat falling to the champion Nuggets in five games. Miami’s defense was outstanding in the Finals, but the offense struggled, scoring 95 or fewer points in all four losses.

It was the second Finals appearance in the past four seasons since the Heat acquired Jimmy Butler in 2019, and they came very close to a third last year. The club will be focused on winning a few more playoff games in ’23/24 in order to bring a fourth NBA championship to Miami.

The Heat’s Offseason Plan

Making the NBA Finals is a very difficult thing to do, and it’s worth acknowledging the accomplishment, even though the Heat were obviously disappointed to fall a little short of their ultimate goal. Despite their success, there could be a significant amount of roster turnover this offseason, in large part due to finances.

Victor Oladipo, who unfortunately sustained another major knee injury in the first round against Milwaukee, is essentially a lock to exercise his $9.45MM player option. Miami is expected to guarantee Haywood Highsmith‘s $1.9MM salary, and the team controls the No. 18 pick in next week’s draft, which has a $3.46MM cap hold.

Assuming the Heat keep that pick — which is far from certain — they would have about $176.6MM committed to 10 players. The luxury tax line is projected to be $162MM, with the new restrictive second tax apron set for $17.5MM above the tax line, or $179.5MM.

That $176.6MM figure does not include any of the team’s free agents, including some key rotation members. The Heat will have Bird rights on Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, who started the entire playoffs. A trio of big men — Kevin Love, Cody Zeller and Omer Yurtseven — make up the other three free agents on standard contracts (Yurtseven will be restricted if given a qualifying offer).

Strus and Vincent are expected to command significant raises on their minimum-salary contracts. The Heat would be facing a major luxury tax bill if they re-signed both players to eight-figure deals. Oladipo is an obvious trade candidate if they’re looking to shed money, as he could miss most or all of next season with the torn patellar tendon.

Butler will be 34 years old in September. As such, the Heat are firmly in win-now mode, and are always on the lookout for star talent — it’s only natural that recent reports have indicated that will continue.

The Heat owe a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City, which complicates, to some extent, their ability to move additional first-rounders. Still, they could include up to three first-round selections – including this year’s No. 18 pick – in a trade offer for a star this summer.

Part of the reason why people around the league expect there to be quite a bit of star player movement this offseason is because the more punitive aspects of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be phased in over the next couple seasons. For projected taxpayers like the Heat, that means there’s an opportunity to potentially land a star before those changes fully kick in.

NBA insiders expect Wizards guard Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star, to be traded at some point this offseason, with the Heat viewed as a natural landing spot. They have the types of salaries (two of Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson) to match Beal’s huge contract — he’s owed nearly $208MM over the next four seasons, including $46.7MM in ’23/24.

Lowry and Robinson were previously viewed as having negative trade value due to their contracts, but they both played key roles in helping the Heat advance to the Finals. Lowry’s $29.7MM deal expires after next season, while Robinson is still owed $47.5MM through ’25/26 (the final year is partially guaranteed).

Herro, who missed all but one half of the playoffs after breaking a couple of fingers in his right hand, is owed $120MM over the next four seasons after signing a rookie scale extension prior to ’22/23. Caleb Martin is another player worth watching, as “a lot of teams have interest” in his 3-and-D skill set and team-friendly contract — he’s owed $13.9MM over the next two seasons.

However, while he is a very skilled scorer, Beal hasn’t played solid defense for multiple years and has been plagued by injuries of late, appearing in just 90 of a possible 172 games over the past two seasons. Of course, the biggest impediment to acquiring him is his full no-trade clause, which would make it extremely difficult to move him in the future if the Heat were to acquire him.

While I don’t love the fit from Miami’s perspective, reporting on Saturday indicated the team was engaged in serious talks to acquire Beal from Washington. Even if the Heat could land him without giving up any draft capital, which seems unlikely, I would have viewed him as more of a fallback option than a top priority. There’s a real scenario in which they’d need to keep their draft picks just to have a chance of moving him down the line if things went south.

Zach LaVine could hold more appeal, as Chicago is reportedly gauging his trade value. But the Bulls would also be seeking more in return for him than the Wizards would for Beal.

Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is three years older than Beal (Lillard will be 33 in July; Beal turns 30 in a couple weeks) and nearly five years older than LaVine (28), but he’s also in a different class as a player. The seven-time All-NBA member (vs. one for Beal and zero for LaVine) averaged a career-high 32.2 PPG in ’22/23 along with elite efficiency, posting a Stephen Curry-esque 64.5% true shooting percentage.

None of the three are great defenders, but Lillard is by far the best ball-handler and passer, as well as the most dynamic offensive player and shot-creator. His seemingly unlimited shooting range warps defenses, and he exploits that by utilizing his underrated ability to drive and draw fouls — he averaged a career-best 9.6 free throw attempts in ’22/23 and converted 91.4% at the charity stripe. Miami ranked just 25th in offense during the regular season, so they do need help on that end despite their impressive playoff run.

Still, even though Lillard recently listed the Heat as a team he would want to join if he ever asked for a trade, there’s no indication that will happen anytime soon, and I’m skeptical they’d have enough assets to deal for him unless he explicitly says he only wants to join Miami. He has also dealt with his own injuries the past couple years, and will make even more money than Beal over the next four seasons. Obviously, acquiring him would be a risk, since he’ll be 36 at the end of the contract.

I don’t see Bam Adebayo going anywhere, even if a major star unexpectedly submits a trade request — perhaps someone like Joel Embiid, for example. Adebayo is too important to the team’s culture, and he won’t turn 26 until next month. He’ll also be eligible for a lucrative extension this offseason, but financially it makes more sense for him to wait on that decision. If he makes an All-NBA team or wins Defensive Player of the Year in ’23/24, he’ll meet the performance criteria for a super-max extension, which requires players to have at least seven years of experience (Adebayo just completed his sixth season).

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Haywood Highsmith ($1,902,137)
    • Note: Highsmith’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 5.
  • Total: $1,902,137

Restricted Free Agents

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 18 overall pick ($3,458,400)
  • Total: $3,458,400

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Bam Adebayo (veteran)
  • Kyle Lowry (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 Mickey and Wade remain on the Heat’s 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: $4,700,000

Note: If the Heat’s team salary exceeds the second tax apron, they would lose access to any form of the mid-level exception.

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Boston Celtics

June 12th, 2023 at 7:47am CST by Rory Maher

After coming within two games of winning their 18th championship in 2021/22 under first-year head coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics had both a promising and strange offseason last year.

On the plus side, they traded for guard Malcolm Brogdon, who went on to win Sixth Man of the Year, and signed veteran forward Danilo Gallinari. Unfortunately, Gallinari tore his ACL while playing with the Italian national team last summer, and then Udoka was suspended for the ’22/23 season last September for violating “organizational guidelines” after a consensual affair with a female staffer.

Despite the dramatic circumstances that unexpectedly thrust Joe Mazzulla into the lead coaching role, Boston’s on-court results actually improved during the regular season. The team won six more games en route to a 57-25 record, the second-best mark in the NBA.

The Celtics had all the hallmarks of a championship-caliber club entering the playoffs, holding the league’s second-best offense and defense and the top overall net rating (plus-6.7).

Things quickly went awry in the postseason, however, with the Celtics unexpectedly dropping a couple of games in their first-round series against the Hawks before facing a 3-2 deficit in their second-round series against the Sixers. Boston pulled through by winning the final two games, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to immediately lose three straight against the Heat and face the unprecedented task of trying to win four consecutive elimination games.

The Celtics staged an admirable comeback, winning three in a row to even the series, but got blown out at home in Game 7, with Jayson Tatum suffering an ankle injury on the game’s first play and Jaylen Brown struggling mightily, going 8-of-23 from the field along with eight turnovers.

The Celtics’ Offseason Plan

While they obviously fell short of their ultimate goal of winning the title, it’s still impressive that the Celtics have advanced to at least the Conference Finals in five of the past seven seasons. That illustrates how close they’ve been to a breakthrough for several years now while also showing how incredibly difficult it is to win four consecutive playoff series in order to emerge with the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Only a handful of teams have just one unrestricted free agent this summer, at least right now, and Boston is one of them. However, that doesn’t mean the Celtics don’t have some important decisions to make in the coming weeks.

Brown became eligible for a super-max extension after his first All-NBA berth in ’22/23, earning a spot on the Second Team. Based on what president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said after they were eliminated, it sounds like the Celtics fully intend to offer Brown the projected five-year, $290MM+ contract, which would be the largest in NBA history.

Tatum will also be extension-eligible, but he’ll definitely wait a year to maximize his earnings. The 25-year-old will be in position to sign his own super-max contract in 2024 no matter how the upcoming season goes, having met the performance criteria by making the All-NBA First Team in each of the past two seasons. He just needs one more year of NBA experience to officially become super-max eligible.

Would the Celtics be open to trading Brown if the right opportunity arose? Perhaps. But he’s only 26, and they’ve obviously had a lot of success with him and Tatum. It seems far more likely that the club will continue to try to complement its stars rather than split them up.

Brown’s possible extension won’t kick in until ’24/25, so the Celtics have one season of leeway until things start to get really complicated from a financial standpoint. That said, bringing back the same core group next season — if that’s even the goal — won’t be cheap.

Forward Grant Williams will be a restricted free agent, and while his season was a little uneven (in part due to injury), he’s due for a big raise on the $4.3MM he made this past season. His numbers (8.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 25.9 MPG) look modest on the surface, but he has turned himself into a very good shooter and he’s a versatile defender as well, so his skill set has a lot of value, especially in a free agent class without much star talent available.

Gallinari is a near-lock to exercise his $6.8MM player option coming off a major injury. That would leave the Celtics with a $158MM+ payroll with 10 players on guaranteed contracts. The projected luxury tax line is $162MM, and the highly-restrictive second tax apron is at $179.5MM.

I’m not sure how much money Williams will receive, but for the sake of argument let’s say he re-signs with Boston on a four-year, $60MM contract, with a $15MM annual cap hit. That would put the team’s payroll at $173MM+ with 11 players under contract.

In that scenario, the Celtics could (barely) stay below the second apron as long as their three other players are on minimum deals, but they wouldn’t be able to use the mid-level exception to sign a free agent. They’d also have to decline their $3.5MM team option on Mike Muscala, which isn’t a deal-breaker or anything since he wasn’t in the playoff rotation.

If they’re not confident in Gallinari’s ability to bounce back from a second torn ACL (he’ll be 35 in August), they could offload his salary by attaching some draft capital. That should enable them to use the taxpayer MLE, though at $5MM it’s fair to wonder how impactful that addition might be.

Payton Pritchard requested a trade before the February deadline and was disappointed to not be dealt, so he’s an obvious candidate to be moved if the Celtics can find something they like. They definitely won’t just salary dump him because he wants a bigger opportunity though. If Boston is hesitant to use draft assets to move off Gallinari, the team could package Pritchard with him instead.

In the playoffs, one thing that really stood out to me was Robert Williams was not the all-over-the-place defensive force that he was in ’21/22. That makes sense, since he was slow to recover from a second knee procedure in training camp and was limited to just 35 games, but the Celtics certainly missed his roaming weak-side play-making and ability to change shots. Hopefully he’ll regain his prior form, but it’s worth monitoring how he looks to start next season, as his game is very reliant on athleticism.

It may seem like I’m implying the Celtics will have a quiet offseason, and that could end up being the case. However, Stevens has consistently been active in looking for roster upgrades, and he won’t hesitate to shake things up if he thinks it will improve their odds of winning their first championship since 2008.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

Player Options

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Luke Kornet ($2,413,304)
  • Justin Champagnie ($1,927,896)
    • Note: Champagnie would receive a partial guarantee of $50K if he’s not waived on or before August 1; that partial guarantee would increase to $350K if he’s not waived on or before the first day of the regular season.
  • Total: $4,341,200

Restricted Free Agents

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 35 overall (cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Malcolm Brogdon (veteran)
  • Jaylen Brown (veteran)
  • Jayson Tatum (veteran)
  • Derrick White (veteran)
  • Payton Pritchard (rookie scale)

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2023/24 season begins. Tatum is ineligible to sign the super-max extension he has qualified for until 2024.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,000,000
  • Trade exception: $1,836,090
  • Trade exception: $1,160,955

Note: The Celtics would lose the taxpayer mid-level exception if their team salary is above the second tax apron; they 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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Hoops Rumors’ 2023 NBA Offseason Previews By Team

June 10th, 2023 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

In advance of the NBA’s 2023 draft and free agent period, Hoops Rumors is previewing the coming offseason for all 30 teams, looking at their salary cap situations and the roster decisions they’ll have to make this summer

Our Offseason Preview articles are linked below, sorted by conference and division. This list, which can be found under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu, will continue to be updated as we complete our previews for all 30 teams.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Central

Southeast

Western Conference

Northwest

Pacific

Southwest

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2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Golden State Warriors

June 9th, 2023 at 7:55am CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors entered the 2022/23 season as the defending champions, having won their fourth title in eight years last June. However, things quickly went off the rails before the season even started, with Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole during training camp. It was a long, bumpy ride the rest of the way.

A poor start which saw the the Warriors drop seven of their first 10 games – including five straight – certainly didn’t help, and every time they reeled off a winning streak, a losing streak quickly followed. The Warriors were within four games of .500 the entire campaign until the very end of the season, when they won their final two games to finish 44-38 and enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the West.

A tight seven-game series with the upstart Kings showed the resiliency of both squads, with Stephen Curry carrying Golden State to a first-round victory with a 50-point performance in Game 7. Untimely shooting slumps and shaky defense played a significant role in the Warriors’ semifinal loss to the Lakers — they dropped the series in six games.

With an incredibly accomplished but aging core, the Warriors face perhaps the most critical offseason in team history and certainly the most important during the Curry-Green-Klay Thompson era. Shoring up the team’s depth and defense, which dropped from second to 14th over the past two seasons, should be a priority.

The Warriors’ Offseason Plan

It’s not hyperbole to say that no other team in the league will be more affected by the punitive aspects of the new CBA than the Warriors, who have been one of the league’s biggest spenders for years. As a repeat taxpayer, they could be facing a $500MM+ payroll (salaries and tax combined) in ’23/24 if their current roster remains intact.

Bob Myers stepping down as president of basketball operations was a really big deal. The decision could very well have a downstream effect on the other key figures within the organization. He had great relationships Curry, Thompson, Green and head coach Steve Kerr, and was known as one of the best communicators in the sport.

Green has a $27.6MM player option, which he could decline to enter free agency. Thompson is extension-eligible and entering the final year of his contract. Kerr is entering the final year of his deal as well, with a recent report indicating that he could be looking for a big pay raise after Detroit’s Monty Williams became the highest-paid coach in the league.

Although various reports indicated that Mike Dunleavy Jr. might be Myers’ eventual successor, owner Joe Lacob stated he’s not ready to name a replacement. That leaves the front office in a tenuous position at an extremely important time.

In addition to Green, guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was signed for part of the taxpayer mid-level exception last summer, has a $4.7MM player option of his own. Golden State currently controls the No. 19 pick in the upcoming draft.

If Green and DiVincenzo exercise their options (which is far from a lock — I think DiVincenzo in particular is likely to decline it in search of a raise) and the Warriors keep the pick, they’d be looking at a $213MM+ payroll with 13 players on guaranteed contracts. The luxury tax line is projected to be $162MM, and the highly-restrictive second tax apron kicks in at $179.5MM.

If they stay above the second apron, our current understanding is the Warriors would lose access to the taxpayer MLE, and there are several more roster-building restrictions beyond just that. Most of those changes won’t be implemented immediately, but they’ll likely all be in effect by the 2024/25 season.

It’s essentially a pseudo-hard cap, which will make life difficult for the Warriors’ front office. That said, even though the payroll is likely to be massive no matter what happens with Green, the team does have some desirable assets.

For example, Kevon Looney is on an extremely team-friendly contract. But he’s also been with the Warriors his entire career, seems to get along well with both the old guard and the young players, and having value contracts is absolutely essential when you have two of the highest-paid players in the league (Curry will have the league’s largest cap hit in ’23/24; Thompson will be 12th).

Andrew Wiggins is on a relatively team-friendly deal as well, and he would have a long list of suitors if the Warriors made him available. But as with Looney, it would be hard to replace what Wiggins provides, as he was arguably the team’s second-best player during the playoff run in 2022.

Curry definitely isn’t going anywhere, and I’d be surprised if the Warriors entertain trading Thompson. If I were running the team though, I would seriously consider it. His overall numbers in ’22/23 look pretty similar to his career averages, but the major leg injuries he suffered (a torn ACL and a torn Achilles) that caused him to miss two seasons have sapped some of his athleticism, and he isn’t nearly the defender he once was. Still, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I doubt Gary Payton II will be on the move so soon after the Warriors traded former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to reacquire him in February. That leaves the team’s young players.

Poole’s up-and-down season in many ways was reflective of the Warriors’ results as a whole. His relationship with Green — which was reportedly quite good before the punch — definitely seemed strained throughout ’22/23, and it’s hard to envision that changing. I’m not sure how rival teams would view his contract extension. On one hand, he still showed flashes of promise, and he helped keep the offense afloat when Curry missed extended time with injuries. On the other, Poole’s careless turnovers and porous defense can be quite frustrating.

I’m fairly certain that former lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody would have positive trade value, despite their own inconsistent seasons. They’re only 20 and 21 years old, entering their third seasons, and make less than $10MM combined in ’23/24. Moody feels a little more likely to stick around after a solid playoff run that saw Kuminga glued to the bench.

Packaging some combination of Poole, Kuminga and the No. 19 overall pick could be an option. But cost-controlled assets like Kuminga and the first-rounder are also really important. If they keep the pick, I wonder if the Warriors will draft a more experienced prospect after going for younger, less NBA-ready players in recent years.

None of the team’s impending free agents — including JaMychal Green and Anthony Lamb — are locks to return. Longtime veteran Andre Iguodala has already said he intends to retire.

Despite a disappointing season, I still think Golden State’s championship window is open as long as Curry keeps playing at his current level and Green is spearheading the defense. Curry is 35 now and has missed a lot of games over the past handful of seasons, which is troublesome. But he’s still capable of being the best player on the court in any game in which he appears, and the Warriors have shown tremendous resiliency over the past decade. It will be fascinating to see how their offseason unfolds.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

Note: The cap hold for Mannion remains on the Warriors’ books from a prior season because it hasn’t been renounced. The team can make him a restricted free agent again by extending another qualifying offer.

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 19 overall ($3,302,640)
  • Total: $3,302,640

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.

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

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

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Trade exception: $1,303,360

Note: The Warriors could gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,000,000) if they keep their team salary below the second tax apron.

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