Hoops Rumors Originals

Recap Of 2023/24 Rookie Scale Option Decisions

Decisions on rookie scale options for the 2023/24 season were due on Monday — any team that wanted to exercise a third- or fourth-year option on a player for next season was required to do so by October 31.

As is typically the case, a huge majority of those options were picked up. Even for top picks, who are paid higher salaries due to the NBA’s rookie scale, those third- and fourth-year options are relatively team-friendly. So unless a player has fallen well short of his team’s expectations, it generally makes sense to lock in his salary for the following season at this point.

However, not every player with a 2023/24 team option had it exercised by Monday’s deadline. The players who had those options declined will now be on track to reach unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2023, assuming they’re not waived before then. At the end of the season, their teams won’t be able to offer them starting salaries that exceed the value of their declined options.

Listed below are the players who had their options turned down, followed by the players whose options were exercised. If a player had his option picked up, his ’23/24 salary is now guaranteed and he won’t be eligible for free agency until at least 2024.


Declined options:

Note: These players will become unrestricted free agents in 2023.

The Jazz’s decisions on Azubuike and Bolmaro weren’t major surprises. Both players weren’t considered locks to make the regular season roster during the preseason, and Utah is prioritizing cap space for the 2023 offseason. Azubuike and Bolmaro have failed to establish themselves as reliable rotation players so far, logging just 264 and 257 total NBA minutes, respectively.

The Magic’s decision on Hampton was a little more unexpected, given that he was one of the centerpieces of the team’s Aaron Gordon trade with Denver in 2021. Hampton has flashed some scoring and play-making abilities since arriving in Orlando, including making 35.0% of his three-pointers last season, but it seems he’s no longer a key piece in the Magic’s long-term plans.

These three players remain under contract for the 2022/23 season. They won’t be able to receive starting salaries worth more than their declined options when they reach free agency in 2023.


Exercised options:

Fourth year:

Note: These players will become eligible for rookie scale extensions in July of 2023. If they’re not extended, they’ll be on track for restricted free agency in 2024.

Third year:

Note: Teams will have to make fourth-year option decisions for 2024/25 on these players by October 31, 2023.


For a team-by-team breakdown of this year’s rookie scale option decisions for the 2023/24 season, along with full stories on each decision, you can check out our tracker.

2023 NBA Draft Pick Swaps To Monitor

It’s far too early in the 2022/23 NBA season to look at the standings and draw sweeping conclusions about which teams are headed for the postseason and which are lottery-bound.

Still, Victor Wembanyama‘s impending arrival casts a long shadow over this season — having even an outside shot at landing the best NBA prospect since LeBron James may prompt some struggling teams to pivot to tank mode midway through the year rather than pushing for a play-in spot.

Since any prolonged slump could make a team’s fans wonder if tanking for Wembanyama is the smart play, it’s worth noting up front which clubs would and wouldn’t realistically have a shot at him if they finish in the lottery. A team could go 0-82 and still have a 0% chance of drafting Wembanyama if that team has already traded away its unprotected 2023 first-round pick.

Here are a few of the unprotected draft-pick swaps and trades worth keeping in mind as the 2022/23 season progresses:


Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers have faced a challenging set of opponents during their 0-4 start and seem likely to bounce back sooner or later, at least to some extent. But if you’ve watched the team look inconsistent and out of sorts on offense while making three-pointers at a record-low rate, you can’t be blamed for wondering if it might be in the franchise’s best interest to tank for a shot at Wembanyama and reload for next season, when Russell Westbrook‘s $47MM cap hit comes off the books.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, that’s not an option. As part of the Anthony Davis trade, the Lakers gave the Pelicans the ability to swap first-round picks in 2023. So if the Lakers miss the postseason and win the draft lottery, that No. 1 overall pick would go to New Orleans, not L.A.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets haven’t looked much better than the Lakers so far this season. They’re off to a 1-4 start and have the NBA’s worst defense (120.2 defensive rating), with new addition Ben Simmons looking uncomfortable on the court. Again, it’s unlikely they’ll play this poorly all season, but if things continue to go downhill, would tanking be an option for the Nets?

Brooklyn’s draft-pick situation is an unusual one. Theoretically, the Nets could secure the No. 1 pick in 2023, but only if Philadelphia misses the playoffs and wins the draft lottery, since Brooklyn controls the Sixers‘ pick.

The Rockets have the ability to swap their own first-rounder with the Nets’ pick, so if Brooklyn finishes in the lottery and the Sixers don’t, the highest pick the Nets could get would be No. 2 overall (if they and the Rockets earned the top two spots via the lottery).

Given that the Rockets are a good bet to be at or near the bottom of the NBA’s standings, a poor season from the Nets would still probably ensure a strong draft pick, even if they have to swap picks — but it wouldn’t give them a shot at Wembanyama.

Philadelphia 76ers

The 1-4 Sixers haven’t looked right so far this season, especially defensively. There’s too much talent on the roster for them to continue losing games at this rate, but it’s worth noting that they won’t have their first-round pick at all in 2023. That first-rounder will be sent to the Nets, unless it’s worse than Brooklyn’s and Houston’s picks, in which case it will be rerouted to the Jazz.

Los Angeles Clippers

Like their Crypto.com Arena cohabitants, the Clippers have a first-round pick in 2023, but it’s not guaranteed to be their own. As part of the Paul George trade, L.A. gave the Thunder the ability to swap first-rounders in 2023.

The odds of the Thunder finishing ahead of the Clippers in this year’s standings are virtually nil, but this swap is still worth mentioning on the heels of Oklahoma City defeating L.A. in consecutive games this week. Both teams are currently 2-3.

Minnesota Timberwolves/Milwaukee Bucks

The Timberwolves and Bucks have both traded away their 2023 first-round picks without protections. Minnesota’s pick is headed to the Jazz, while Milwaukee’s will be sent to the Rockets.

If the Wolves and Bucks live up to their expectations this year, those picks should land somewhere in the 20s and be well removed from the Wembanyama sweepstakes.

The rest

Several more 2023 first-round picks will likely change hands next spring, but all of the rest of the traded picks for ’23 have some form of protection on them. For instance, Chicago’s 2023 first-rounder will likely be sent to the Magic, but it has top-four protection, so if they were to win the draft lottery, the Bulls would keep that pick.

A full list of the traded 2023 first-round picks can be found right here.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

With 30 NBA teams each permitted to carry 15 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals, there are a total of 510 roster spots available across the league. Nearly two weeks into the 2022/23 season, 500 of those spots are filled, with only 10 still up for grabs.

[RELATED: 2022/23 NBA Roster Counts]

The NBA’s transaction wire has been pretty quiet since the regular season tipped off on October 18, as the teams that began the year with open roster spots are in no rush to fill them.

In some cases, that’s about maintaining roster flexibility — teams want to be able to make trades where they acquire more players than they send out, or sign a free agent to a non-guaranteed contract to address a positional hole if multiple players start to go down with injuries.

In most cases though, it’s more about financial concerns. Many of the teams with open roster spots are either already over the luxury tax line or dangerously close to it.

Here are the teams that have open roster spots:

  • Atlanta Hawks
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Miami Heat
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
    • Note: The Timberwolves’ opening is a two-way slot.
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trail Blazers

Of these teams, the Timberwolves are the most likely to fill their roster opening in the coming days or weeks — since two-way signings don’t count against a team’s cap, there’s no compelling financial reason for a team not to be carrying two players on two-way deals.

Minnesota has a relatively healthy roster though, and the G League season hasn’t started yet, so there’s no urgent need to add a two-way replacement for Eric Paschall, who was waived last week.

Among the other teams on this list, only the Hornets and Cavaliers could sign a 15th man without any immediate luxury tax concerns, so they’re probably the first two teams to watch for potential signings. If they were to sign a player to a non-guaranteed contract, they’d only have to pay his daily salary and would be able to waive him at any time before January 7 without being on the hook for his full-season cap hit.

Trade Breakdown: Bojan Bogdanovic For Kelly Olynyk

This is the 12th and final entry in our series breaking down the major trades of the 2022 offseason. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves. Let’s dive into a deal between the Jazz and Pistons


On September 22, the Jazz agreed to send Bojan Bogdanovic to the Pistons in exchange for Kelly Olynyk, Saben Lee, and $1,752,638 in cash – that amount was the exact cap hit for Lee, who was subsequently waived before the season began.

The Jazz’s perspective:

None of the players involved in this deal are stars, but it was still a pretty surprising move because most league observers thought the Jazz would receive a young player and/or draft assets for an efficient scorer and shooter like Bogdanovic. So why didn’t they?

For starters, Bogdanovic is playing on a $19.55MM expiring contract, which made matching salaries difficult since nearly every team is over the cap (more on that later). He was rumored to be looking for an extension, which may have impacted his trade value since he’s 33 years old and most contending teams are taxpayers. Bogdanovic also has some clear limitations as a player, which we’ll get into.

By acquiring Lauri Markkanen and Jarred Vanderbilt (in separate trades), the Jazz had a couple of younger players to start at the two forward spots. That made Bogdanovic, another forward, redundant to some extent, and there’s no reason why he’d be interested in a reduced role when he’s still playing at a high level.

Reports after the trade indicated that the Jazz received late first-round pick offers for Bogdanovic that required them to take back longer-term salary, so Utah instead chose to create additional financial flexibility. The Suns reportedly pursued the veteran, but also wanted Vanderbilt in the deal, which caused the talks to break down.

It’s one thing to move an expiring veteran, but Vanderbilt is only 23 years old, under contract for two years, and is one of the league’s most energetic rebounders on top of being a plus defender, making him a coveted asset. It’s understandable why Utah didn’t want to deal him so soon after acquiring him.

Instead of receiving draft compensation, the Jazz saved $6.75MM ($5MM against the cap) in 2022/23, because Olynyk makes $12.8MM this season. Clearly Lee — a guard who was the 38th overall pick in 2020 — wasn’t in the team’s plans, but Utah essentially got a free look at him in training camp with the cash received offsetting his salary.

Olynyk has been a solid, productive player for a long time and the Jazz lacked a starting-caliber center after trading Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. Rookie first-rounder Walker Kessler (acquired in the Gobert deal) looks promising and could eventually become a starter, but would be a poor spacing fit with Vanderbilt, whereas Olynyk helps in that regard.

There’s an arrhythmic quality to Olynyk’s game that’s difficult to describe. He has some unique qualities for someone 6’11”, and he provides value in atypical ways for a big man.

Olynyk leverages his outside shooting with drives to the basket, creating plays both for himself and teammates. He’s an unselfish passer and is an above-average ball-handler for a player his size.

If you try to put a smaller player on him, he can score over them in the post. He’s smart and runs the floor hard looking for easy buckets. Olynyk is also versatile enough to play both frontcourt positions against bigger lineups, with first-year head coach Will Hardy deploying him alongside Kessler at times.

The Canadian veteran likes flipping up finger rolls near the rim, such as what turned out to be an off-balance game-winning shot against the Pelicans on Sunday – it’s not always aesthetically pleasing, but more often than not it goes in. That’s basically Olynyk in a nutshell — unusual but effective.

I think Olynyk’s sometimes awkward-looking play makes people take him less seriously for some reason. Maybe that’s why writers, analysts and fans alike seemed to overstate the difference in on-court impact between Bogdanovic and Olynyk when evaluating this trade.

Case in point, with the caveat that per 36 numbers are a bit misleading:

Player A’s career per 36 averages (607 games): 18.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 APG (2.0 TO) and 0.7 SPG on .457/.393/.862 shooting. Career advanced stats: 59.2% true shooting percentage, 33.4 win shares, 5.0 value over replacement player, 14.0 player efficiency rating.

Player B’s career per 36 averages (614 games): 16.5 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.4 APG (2.4 TO) and 1.2 SPG on .477/.368/.782 shooting. Career advanced stats: 59.0 TS%, 35.6 WS, 9.9 VORP, 15.8 PER.

Player A is Bogdanovic. Player B is Olynyk.

Olynyk is clearly a better inside finisher and passer, while Bogdanovic is a more prolific scorer and higher-level shooter. Neither is a great defender, though Olynyk has the edge as a rebounder and play-maker on that end.

Two big differences: Bogdanovic has started the majority of his career with an average of 29.1 minutes per game, while Olynyk has primarily been a reserve and only holds a career average of 22.0 MPG.

The main reason Olynyk has come off the bench for most of his career is that he isn’t a traditional rim protector and is a below-average rebounder for a center. Protecting the paint is the foundation of any good defense, and it’s probably his biggest weakness as a player (he’s also foul-prone). Bogdanovic doesn’t have to worry about that as much since he’s a forward.

Don’t get me wrong, Bogdanovic is definitely a better player than Olynyk. There’s no question about that. That’s why he got $73MM over four years the last time he was a free agent and Olynyk got $37MM ($28MM guaranteed) over three.

But is Bogdanovic worth an additional $5MM cap hit for one season?

In a vacuum, yeah, probably. But that’s a much tougher call with the context that Utah’s power forward spot was crowded, Olynyk filled a positional need, and reducing the cap hit this season gave the Jazz more flexibility to take on additional salary without going into the luxury tax if they opt to make more trades, which seems highly likely.

Flipping Olynyk down the line is certainly a possibility; he’d have some takers as a floor-spacing big with only $3MM in guaranteed money in ‘23/24 (he’ll make $12.2MM if his contract becomes fully guaranteed). He’s off to a strong start with the Jazz, averaging 15.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.3 APG and 1.3 SPG on .611/.786/.778 shooting in four games (28.5 MPG). Obviously those shooting splits are unsustainable, but it’s reasonable to believe he’ll have another productive season.

It’s also worth noting that Jazz president Danny Ainge acquired Olynyk’s rights when he was drafted with the 13th overall pick in 2013, and the 31-year-old spent his first four seasons under Ainge with the Celtics. That level of familiarity often plays a factor in trades.

The Pistons’ perspective:

Detroit’s side of things is easier to understand. The Pistons were one of only three teams under the cap this offseason (the Pacers and Spurs are the others), and used their remaining cap room to take on Bogdanovic’s extra salary (though including Lee would’ve allowed them to adhere to salary-matching rules anyway). That enabled them to receive a superior player without having to give up any draft compensation.

Olynyk was limited to 40 games due to injuries in his first year with the Pistons in ‘21/22 and struggled when he did play, posting career lows of 44.8% from the field, 33.6% on three-pointers, and 19.1 MPG. You’d think that may have depressed his trade value a little, but Utah didn’t seem to mind, instead focusing on his larger body of work.

As with Utah’s forwards, Detroit had a crowded center rotation with Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren, Marvin Bagley III, Nerlens Noel and Olynyk all vying for minutes. Removing Olynyk from that equation and adding a forward in Bogdanovic made a lot of sense, because there wasn’t much depth at that spot.

I previously mentioned that per-36 numbers are a bit misleading. Here are Olynyk’s actual per-game averages from 2018-22:

10.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.2 APG and 0.8 SPG on .468/.360/.823 shooting (.605 TS%) in 256 games (108 starts, 22.9 MPG). 15.1 WS, 4.5 VORP, 15.4 PER.

Here are Bogdanovic’s over the same span:

18.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.9 APG and 0.6 SPG on .461/.403/.860 shooting (.601 TS%) in 285 games, all starts (31.6 MPG). 21.3 WS, 4.8 VORP, 15.4 PER.

It’s interesting that their TS%, VORP and PER are so similar, but Bogdanovic clearly offers more scoring and outside shooting, two key deficiencies for the Pistons last season (they were 28th in points and 29th in 3PT%). His career assist-to-turnover ratio is negative, which is never great, but he won’t be tasked with much play-making alongside Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.

Young teams like the Pistons need veterans to show them how to be professionals. Bogdanovic leads by example with consistent offensive output. He was the fourth-best player on the league’s top regular season team in ’20/21, and his play hasn’t dropped off since.

While Bogdanovic has the (deserved) reputation of being a sharpshooter, his offensive repertoire is more varied than that title might suggest. He can create his own shot, he’s an above-average finisher at the rim, he can post up smaller players on switches, and he gets to the free throw line at a decent clip.

Like Olynyk, Bogdanovic has gotten off to a great start with his new club. He has been Detroit’s most effective player through five games (31.2 MPG), averaging 23.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 2.4 APG on .533/.512/.882 shooting.

The fact that Bogdanovic is such a strong shooter and has reached peak performance in recent seasons might portend well for the future, even if he’s 33. If he enjoys playing for the Pistons, I could see the two sides reaching a short-term extension – maybe something like two years, $40-45MM — before he hits free agency next summer.

Another positive aspect of Bogdanovic’s career is that he’s been quite durable, only missing 33 games in the eight seasons leading up to ‘22/23.

Overall, I think it was a logical trade for both sides, with Bogdanovic and Olynyk filling positional needs for their respective clubs. The Jazz gained financial flexibility by reducing their team salary, and Olynyk’s mid-sized contract theoretically makes him pretty easy to trade once he becomes eligible, if they choose to go that route. The Pistons got the better player, and hope to keep him around beyond this season.

Rookie Scale Option Decisions Due On Monday

The NBA’s transaction wire has been relatively quiet since the regular season got underway last Tuesday, but we can still expect one last flurry of moves in October. The deadline for teams to exercise their 2023/24 team options on rookie scale contracts arrives next Monday (October 31), and several of those decisions have yet to be reported or announced.

Unlike player or team options on veteran contracts, third- and fourth-year options on rookie scale contracts for former first-round picks must be exercised a year in advance. For instance, when the Bulls picked up Patrick Williams‘ fourth-year option earlier this month, they were locking in his salary for the 2023/24 season — his ’22/23 salary became guaranteed last October when the team exercised his third-year option.

As our tracker shows, a number of teams still have to pick up or turn down options for players who were first-round picks in 2020 and 2021. Some of those option decisions are no-brainers — the Hornets haven’t yet exercised LaMelo Ball‘s $10.9MM option for 2023/24, but there’s no doubt they’ll do so.

Other decisions are less cut-and-dried. For example, the Hornets also must decide whether they want to pick up James Bouknight‘s $4.57MM third-year option for ’23/24. Given Bouknight’s underwhelming rookie season and his recent legal troubles, it’s far from a given that Charlotte will want to lock in that cap hit.

Here’s the list of option decisions that have yet to be announced or reported:

Boston Celtics

Charlotte Hornets

Golden State Warriors

New Orleans Pelicans

New York Knicks

[UPDATE: The Knicks’ options have been picked up.]

Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ers

Utah Jazz

Note: The Rockets haven’t technically exercised their 2023/24 options on Jalen Green ($9,891,480), Alperen Sengun ($3,536,280), Usman Garuba ($2,588,400), and Josh Christopher ($2,485,200) yet, but will reportedly do so.

2022/23 NBA Two-Way Contract Conversions

At Hoops Rumors, we track virtually every kind of transaction, including free agent signings, trades, contract extensions, waiver claims, and many more. One form of roster move that has become increasingly common in recent years is the two-way conversion, involving a player either being converted from an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal, or from a two-way deal to the standard roster.

We’re going to track all of the two-way conversions (either to or from the standard roster) in 2022/23 in the space below.

Let’s dive in…


Exhibit 10 contracts to two-way contracts:

When a player signs a contract during the offseason that includes Exhibit 10 language, he gives his new team the ability to unilaterally convert his deal into a two-way contract. The deadline to convert such a deal is the day before the season begins — this year that was Monday, October 17.

A player who signs a training camp contract that doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language could still sign a two-way deal with his club as long as his camp contract doesn’t include a guarantee exceeding $50K. However, he’d have to clear waivers before inking that new two-way contract.

Here are the players who had their Exhibit 10 contracts converted into two-way deals in 2022/23:

Most of these players were invited to training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts and ultimately earned two-way slots based on their performances in camp and the preseason. However, there are a few exceptions.

Butler had his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal early in October, then was waived by the Pelicans at the end of the preseason. It’s possible New Orleans was still negotiating with second-rounder E.J. Liddell at that point and only decided to cut Butler after Liddell agreed to accept a two-year, two-way contract.

Days was in camp with the Heat, but was waived by Miami and claimed by the Rockets, who converted his Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Fernando’s conversion from an Exhibit 10 to a two-way was completed for procedural reasons. Doing so allowed the Rockets to negotiate a new standard contract with Fernando (as detailed below) without having to waive him.


Two-way contracts to standard contracts:

A player who is on a two-way contract can have his deal unilaterally converted a one-year, minimum-salary contract by his team (or a two-year, minimum-salary contract if the player’s two-way deal covers two years, but this is rare).

Generally though, the team’s preference is to negotiate a longer-term contract with the player in order to avoid having him reach free agency at season’s end.

When converting a player from a two-way contract to the standard roster, the team can use cap room or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to negotiate a deal of up to four years; the taxpayer mid-level exception for a deal up to three years; or the room exception, bi-annual exception, or minimum salary exception for a two-year deal.

The player must agree to any deal that is worth more than the minimum or exceeds the number of years left on his two-way pact.

Here are the players who have been converted from two-way deals to standard contracts this year, along with the terms of their new contracts, in chronological order:

  • Jericho Sims (Knicks): Three years, $5,660,082 (story). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed ($600K). Third-year team option.
  • Bruno Fernando (Rockets): Four years, $10,869,564 (story). First year guaranteed. Second and third years non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  • Darius Days (Heat): One year, minimum salary (story). Non-guaranteed. Exhibit 10.
    • Note: Days was subsequently waived by the Heat and claimed by the Rockets, who converted him back to a two-way contract (as noted above).
  • Eugene Omoruyi (Thunder): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year non-guaranteed team option.
  • Charles Bassey (Spurs): Four years, $10,200,000 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third and fourth years non-guaranteed.
  • Admiral Schofield (Magic): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option.
  • Trevor Keels (Knicks): 10-day contract (story).
  • Ish Wainright (Suns): Two years, $2,402,747 (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option.
  • Jordan Goodwin (Wizards): Three years, $4,920,240 (story). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed. Third-year partially guaranteed team option.
  • Bryce McGowens (Hornets): Four years, $7,002,014 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third year partially guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  • Lindy Waters (Thunder): Two years, $3,855,792 (story). First year guaranteed. Second-year team option.
  • Sandro Mamukelashvili (Spurs): One year, minimum salary (story).
  • Carlik Jones (Bulls): Three years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second and third years non-guaranteed.
  • DaQuan Jeffries (Knicks): 10-day contract (story).
  • Anthony Lamb (Warriors): One year, minimum salary (story).
  • David Duke (Nets): One year, minimum salary (story).
  • Kobi Simmons (Hornets): Two years, minimum salary (story). First year guaranteed. Second year non-guaranteed.
  • Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Grizzlies): Four years, $6,927,014 (story). First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year non-guaranteed team option.

Players on two-way contracts can be converted to standard deals until the last day of the regular season, so we expect to add many more players to this second list in the coming months.

Trade Breakdown: Donovan Mitchell To Cavaliers

This is the 11th installment in our series breaking down the major trades of the 2022 offseason. As opposed to giving out grades, this series explores why the teams were motivated to make the moves they did. Let’s dive into a blockbuster deal between the Cavaliers and Jazz


On September 3, the Jazz shocked the NBA world by trading Donovan Mitchell to the Cavaliers in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton (via sign-and-trade), No. 14 overall pick Ochai Agbaji, the Cavaliers’ unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, and the right to swap first-round picks with the Cavaliers in both 2026 and 2028.

Part of what made the trade with Cleveland so surprising is that nearly everyone – including Mitchell – expected him to be dealt to New York. I’m not interested in going into that hypothetical much since it didn’t happen, but I do think the Cavs were in a much better position than the Knicks to deal away significant assets.

The Cavaliers’ Perspective:

Over the past 25 years, Cleveland has made the playoffs one time without LeBron James – all the way back in 1998 under former head coach Mike Fratello. With James, the Cavs made nine postseason appearances in 11 seasons, including five trips to the NBA Finals and one championship in 2016 (the Cavs were the underdog in each of those matchups).

In those 11 seasons with James on the roster, the Cavs went 560-342 – a .621 winning percentage, or an average of almost 51 wins over an 82-game season. In the 14 seasons without James during that 25-year span, the Cavs went 420-735 – a .352 winning percentage, or an average of just under 29 wins in an 82-game season.

In the three years after James joined the Lakers in free agency in 2018, the Cavs were the worst team in the NBA, compiling a 60-159 record – a .274 winning percentage, equivalent to just over 22 wins in an 82-game season.

The reason I bring up the Cavaliers’ recent history is because they turned things around in 2021/22, finishing with a 44-38 record. Injuries derailed what had been a great start and they ultimately lost both of their games in the play-in tournament, missing out on the playoffs once again, but the season was still a resounding success.

In many ways, Cleveland’s situation entering the ’22/23 offseason mirrored Minnesota’s – both teams had been very bad without their superstars (Kevin Garnett for the Wolves), but showed a lot of promise last season. Both the Cavs and Wolves are in the midwest, feature talented young cores, and are not free agent destinations. Both were worried about the losing momentum they had gained from last season, so they made blockbuster trades with the Jazz.

The ability to acquire a 26-year-old three-time All-Star with three years remaining on his contract is extremely difficult to pull off, and the Cavs were able to land Mitchell without including any of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen, the team’s other core players. Mitchell holds a player option in ‘25/26, but he’s highly likely to turn it down considering the salary cap is expected to go up exponentially in 2025 with a new media rights deal.

Mitchell is not a perfect fit for the roster. At 6’1″, he’s the same height as Garland, leading to defensive concerns, particularly in the playoffs against top teams. Mitchell has been below average on that end the past few seasons, and was particular poor in ‘21/22.

During the ‘21/22 regular season, opponents shot 4% better than their expected field goal percentage with Mitchell as the closest defender, which ranked 245th out of 273 players who played at least 50 games, per NBA.com. During the playoffs, he was a complete disaster defensively, with opponents shooting 9.6% better than expected – a figure that would have ranked dead last in the NBA in seven of the last nine regular seasons.

Obviously, those figures need to improve. Relying on Mobley and Allen to cover up his mistakes is not an answer to that problem, just as it wasn’t with Rudy Gobert. Mitchell needs to hold himself accountable and play with much more effort on that end.

It’s important to note that defensive field goal percentage is only one statistic and Mitchell does some things well defensively, like forcing turnovers. Last season, he ranked 23rd in the league in deflections per game (2.4) and 11th in steals per game (1.5).

He certainly has the physical attributes to be at least an average defender, if not better, like he was his first couple of seasons. Despite his relative lack of height, Mitchell possesses a 6’10” wingspan and a strong 215-pound frame, and he’s a top-tier athlete. He has been a motivated and willing defender through three games with Cleveland; we’ll see if that continues.

Mitchell makes up for defensive concerns with his offensive skill. He is an elite shot creator who was the best offensive player on the league’s top-ranked regular season offense in ‘21/22.

He has been outstanding in his first three games (38.0 MPG) with the Cavs, averaging 33.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 7.0 APG and 2.0 SPG on .493/.423/.875 shooting. Those numbers aren’t sustainable, but he’s been highly impressive nonetheless playing without Garland, who is currently dealing with an eye injury.

With an explosive first step and a large package of dribble-drive moves, Mitchell is extremely difficult to contain. Because he’s such a strong two-footed leaper, he only needs a sliver of space to get his jump shot off.

As a three-level scorer, Mitchell can put the ball in the hoop in a variety of ways: he can play with or without the ball, finish at the basket, draw contact, and is a very good shooter. From 2020-22, he averaged 26.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.3 APG and 1.3 SPG on .444/.368/.849 shooting.

Mitchell is an opportunist — if he sees an opening, he exploits it without hesitation. He’s nearly unstoppable if he gets a half step on his opponent due to his excellent body control and ability to change direction and speed on the fly, particularly favoring Euro-steps near the basket.

As Mitchell grew as a player, so to did Utah’s offensive rating, climbing each of his five seasons: from 16th to 14th to ninth to fourth to first. That is not a coincidence.

It’s true that the Jazz built their offensive system around Mitchell, surrounding him with strong screen-setters and shooters who could space the floor and move the ball intelligently. It’s reasonable to say Mitchell benefited from that, particularly the complementary play-makers.

It’s also reasonable to say that he’s a good enough offensive player to build your entire system around and be the top offense in the league during the regular season.


Unlike Gobert, whom I previously characterized as a floor-raiser due to his elite interior defense and rebounding, Mitchell is a ceiling-raiser due to his elite shot creation ability and high-level scoring. The Cavs are certainly hoping he can help take them to the next level.

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Community Shootaround: NBA’s Undefeated Teams

Just six days into the 2022/23 NBA regular season, only four teams remain undefeated.

Two of those teams are in the Eastern Conference, where the Celtics are 3-0 and the Bucks are 2-0. Both teams have picked up nice victories in the early going, with Boston defeating the Sixers in the opener and then beating the Heat on the road. The Bucks also beat the 76ers in their own season opener, picking up a win in Philadelphia last Thursday.

Still, the Celtics and Bucks were both expected to be title contenders coming into the season. They’re likely pleased to be off to good starts while missing key players (Robert Williams and Danilo Gallinari in Boston; Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton in Milwaukee), but their early success comes as no surprise.

In the West, on the other hand, you could’ve made very good money if you’d beat a week ago that the last two undefeated teams left standing would be the Trail Blazers (3-0) and Jazz (3-0).

Portland expected to be a playoff contender after revamping its roster in the offseason, most notably trading for veteran forward Jerami Grant. But the reviews on the Blazers’ summer moves were mixed, and most experts didn’t expect them to be better than a play-in team. So their start to the season – which includes road wins over the Kings and Lakers and a home victory over Phoenix – has come as a pleasant surprise.

It certainly hasn’t been more surprising, however, than what the Jazz have done in the first week of the season. After trading away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in the offseason, Utah was viewed as a prime contender in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, but the team opened its season with a home win over Denver and then picked up road victories in Minnesota and New Orleans.

Newly acquired forward Lauri Markkanen has looked like a star so far, leading the way with 24.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG through three games, while Jordan Clarkson (19.0 PPG) and Kelly Olynyk (16.3 PPG; .750 3PT%) have provided secondary scoring.

The Jazz’s 3-0 start was so unexpected that it prompted Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune to write an article headlined, “What in the world is happening with this 3-0 Utah Jazz team? How are they doing this?” Larsen’s hypothesis is that the Jazz have been doing all the little stuff right and making terrific decisions, especially on offense.

The sample size is small, but we want to know whether your feelings about any of the NBA’s four undefeated teams – especially the two in the West – have changed based on their play so far.

Are you any more confident in the Blazers’ chance of making the playoffs than you were a week ago? Could the Jazz actually make a play-in push, or will their hot start be short-lived (either due to regression or more trades)? If you had any doubts about the Celtics or Bucks, have they begun to put them to rest?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Detroit Pistons

After going 43-111 over the past two years, tied with the Magic for the second-worst record in the NBA over that span, the Pistons are one of the rebuilding teams hoping to take a step forward in 2022/23. General manager Troy Weaver has completely reshaped the roster since being hired on June 18, 2020, and the trade for Bojan Bogdanovic showed Detroit is serious about improving in both the short and long term.

The starting lineup features several recent first-round picks, including Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart (Bogdanovic is the fifth starter). The reserves include a couple more recent first-rounders in Killian Hayes and Jalen Duren, plus veterans Cory Joseph, Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox and Rodney McGruder.

Marvin Bagley III (knee), Alec Burks (wrist) and Nerlens Noel (foot) are currently sidelined with injuries, but second-year forward Isaiah Livers (hip) has been removed from the team’s injury report and could make his debut in Saturday’s game against the Pacers, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Pistons have gotten off to a 1-1 start thus far, with a close victory over Orlando and then a blowout loss to the Knicks. Ivey and Duren, both lottery picks this year (No. 5 and No. 13) have been surprisingly effective for rookies in the early going. Ivey has averaged 18.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 6.5 APG and 1.5 SPG on .519/.375/1.000 shooting (30.5 MPG), while Duren has put up 11.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG and 1.5 BPG in 22 MPG.

There’s definitely talent on the roster, with Cunningham, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, headlining the group. Bogdanovic helps improve the team’s shooting, which has been a major weakness (the Pistons finished 29th in both two-point and three-point percentage last season).

Still, the East is stacked with strong teams, including (in no particular order) the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, Raptors, Hawks, Cavs, Heat, Nets and Bulls. I liked the Knicks’ free agent additions of Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein, and the Wizards should be better than last season’s 35-win campaign if they’re healthy, so it seems like the Pistons might have a difficult time finishing better than 12th in the standings unless there is major internal development.

In our over/unders last month, 51.6% of our voters predicted the Pistons to finish with more than 28.5 wins (they finished 23-59 in ’21/22).

That brings us to our question of the day. What’s a reasonable goal for the Pistons this season? Do you think they have a shot at the play-in tournament if things go well, or is it a year too early? Would an incremental step forward, like winning 30 or so games, be considered a success?

Head to the comments section and let us know what you think.

2022/23 NBA Waiver Claims

Waiver claims are something of a rarity in the NBA. In order to claim a player off waivers, a team generally must be able to fit the player’s entire salary into cap room, a traded player exception, or a disabled player exception.

Given those limitations, the players most frequently claimed on waivers are those on minimum-salary deals, since any club is eligible to place a claim on those players using the minimum salary exception.

Even then though, there are some caveats — the minimum salary exception can only be used to sign players for up to two years, so the same rules apply to waiver claims. If a player signed a three-year, minimum salary contract, he can’t be claimed using the minimum salary exception, even if he’s in the final year of his deal.

Taking into account all the rules that reduce the odds of a waiver claim – not to mention the limited roster spots available for NBA teams – it makes sense that nearly all of the players who get released ultimately clear waivers. The 2021/22 league year featured a total of just six waiver claims, for instance.

Despite how infrequent they are, we still want to track all the waiver claims that take place during the 2022/23 league year, since you never know which claim may end up being crucial, such as the Pistons‘ July 2019 claim of Christian Wood. Last season, the Lakers‘ claim of Avery Bradley and the Rockets‘ claim of Garrison Mathews were the most noteworthy.

We’ll track this year’s waiver claims in the space below, updating the list throughout the season to include the latest moves. Here’s the list:


  • Spurs claim Isaiah Roby from Thunder (July 5) (story)
    • The victim of a roster crunch in Oklahoma City, Roby was waived by the Thunder before his salary for 2022/23 could become guaranteed. However, the under-the-cap Spurs didn’t mind locking in Roby’s minimum salary and taking a flier on the young forward, who made the team’s opening night roster.
  • Rockets claim Darius Days from Heat (October 11) (story)
    • Days was initially on a two-way contract with the Heat, who preferred to give that spot to Jamal Cain. But since the Heat still wanted Days to play for their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, they converted the forward to an Exhibit 10 contract before waiving him. The Rockets didn’t let Days to get to Sioux Falls though — instead, they claimed him and converted him back to a two-way contract to open the season.
  • Heat claim D.J. Stewart Jr. from Mavericks (October 14) (story)
    • The Mavericks signed Stewart to an Exhibit 10 contract, but the Heat and their affiliate, the Skyforce, still held his G League rights. So when Dallas cut Stewart ahead of the regular season, Miami placed a claim on him to ensure that he would receive his $50K Exhibit 10 bonus if he reported back to Sioux Falls to start the season. The Heat waived him shortly thereafter.
  • Hawks claim Jared Rhoden from Trail Blazers (October 14) (story)
    • Like the Heat with Stewart, the Hawks claimed Rhoden for G League purposes. He had been on an Exhibit 10 contract with Portland, but the Trail Blazers are one of two NBA teams without a G League club of their own and had no plans to make him an affiliate player. Rhoden was waived by Atlanta shortly after being claimed, but the College Park Skyhawks – the team’s G League affiliate – selected him in the NBAGL draft.
  • Spurs claim Julian Champagnie from Sixers (February 16) (story)
    • After promoting Charles Bassey to their standard roster, the Spurs had an open two-way contract slot. Instead of bringing in a free agent, San Antonio filled that opening by placing a claim on former Sixers two-way player Champagnie, who had just been cut by Philadelphia to make room for Mac McClung.
  • Spurs claim Sandro Mamukelashvili from Bucks (March 3) (story)
    • The Spurs claimed Mamukelashvili, who had been on a two-way deal in Milwaukee, despite both of their two-way slots being full. By immediately converting Mamukelashvili to a standard, rest-of-season contract, San Antonio was able to claim him and move him to the 15-man roster, waiving Isaiah Roby to create room. If the Spurs had wanted to keep Mamukelashvili on his two-way deal or convert him to a contract that covered more than the rest of the season, they would have had to waive one of their two-way players to make the claim.