- Grizzlies guard/forward Desmond Bane, who underwent toe surgery in May, says he hasn’t been cleared for 5-on-5 work yet, but he expects to be a full go for training camp next month, tweets Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian. “I’m not quite cleared to play contact yet, but as far as working out on the court, I feel like my body is in a pretty good spot,” Bane said, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Bane signed a massive rookie scale extension this summer that will go into effect in 2024/25.
- John Konchar gets favorable reviews in advanced analytics and four of the top five Grizzlies lineups in net rating last season included Konchar. He also has offensive upside to go along with his solid defense, which is why he’ll be a big part of Memphis’ plans in 2023/24, according to Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Bob Myers indicated that he wanted some time away from the game when he stepped down as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Warriors, but fans should expect to hear his name mentioned in connection to any openings that arise in the next few months, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
The most obvious team for Myers, according to Fischer, is the Clippers because of his longtime association with team consultant Jerry West and the working relationship they developed during their time together with Golden State. Myers spent more than a decade with the Warriors and helped to win four championships, so Fischer believes he’ll be among the first names that any team will call if it decides to shake up its front office.
Fischer identifies a few other former general managers who may be in line for a second chance, including ex-Utah GM Dennis Lindsey, who is currently working in the Mavericks‘ front office, Kings assistant GM Wes Wilcox, who has rebuilt his reputation after his experience in Atlanta, and former Orlando GM Rob Hennigan, who is VP of basketball operations with the Thunder.
Fischer passes along more information about rising stars in NBA front offices:
- Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon was among the candidates to become the Wizards’ president of basketball operations and he’ll likely be considered for similar jobs in the future, Fischer writes. Raptors GM Bobby Webster, Cavaliers GM Mike Gansey and new Clippers GM Trent Redden all appear headed for team president roles someday, Fischer adds.
- Jeff Peterson, the Nets‘ assistant GM, is considered one of the league’s best young executives, according to Fischer. Peterson interviewed for the Pistons’ GM slot in 2020, and Fischer hears that he’s viewed as one of the favorites to take over the Hornets if they decide to replace Mitch Kupchak, who’s in the final year of his contract. Pelicans assistant GM Bryson Graham could be first in line to replace Langdon if he leaves, but league sources tell Fischer that he might get an opportunity with another team before that happens.
- Tayshaun Prince is a valuable member of the Grizzlies‘ front office and has received overtures about running other teams, according to Fischer. Among other former NBA players, Jameer Nelson has built a strong reputation in the Sixers‘ front office for his work with their G League affiliate, and Acie Law appears headed for a promotion with the Thunder after Will Dawkins was hired by the Wizards.
- Fischer identifies CAA’s Austin Brown as an agent who might move into a front office role, noting that he was a candidate to run the Bulls in 2020. Fischer also singles out agents Jason Glushon and Todd Ramasar, along with Kirk Berger, a legal counsel with the players’ union.
Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, says he’s excited to team up with Marcus Smart, who won the award in 2022, writes Jerry Jiang of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Smart was acquired from the Celtics last month in a three-team trade, and Jackson reached out to him when the news broke.
“That doesn’t happen pretty often or ever,” Jackson said, referring to a team having two DPOY winners at the same time. “I just know what he brings to Boston. I’ve seen it before I was in the league and it’s crazy.”
Here’s more from the West:
- The Mavericks intend to hire Eric Hughes as an assistant coach, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Hughes got his NBA start as an assistant with Toronto and previously worked under head coach Jason Kidd with the Nets and Bucks, MacMahon notes. He has been with the Sixers for the past four seasons.
- Thunder big man Aleksej Pokusevski won’t be able to represent his native Serbia in the FIBA World Cup next month, according to Eurohoops.net. The 17th pick of the 2020 draft, Pokusevski suffered a broken arm during an offseason workout at the end of May and won’t receive medical clearance to train with a basketball until late August, the report states. The World Cup starts August 25 and runs through September 10. The 21-year-old was hoping to secure a spot on the Serbian national team’s 12-man roster.
- In a mailbag for The Oklahoman, Joe Mussatto predicts that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Victor Oladipo, Jack White, Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington are the the most likely players to be on the chopping block due to the Thunder‘s roster crunch. However, Mussatto notes that OKC has a few months to figure things out and more trades could be in order rather than outright waiving all five players.
With two months to go until NBA teams report to training camps, there’s no need for a club to have its 21-man offseason roster – let alone its 15-man standard roster for the regular season – set in stone at this point.
Still, many rosters around the league are clearly taking shape, with several teams carrying 14 or 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts and seemingly unlikely to make any more major changes this offseason.
There are also a handful of teams carrying more than 15 standard contracts who will have to trade or waive at least one or two of those players before the regular season begins in order to adhere to the NBA’s regular season roster limit.
Here are some of the teams who will be facing possible roster crunches in the coming months:
Oklahoma City Thunder
(20 standard contracts)
The Thunder have been a willing trade partner for teams looking to dump unwanted contracts this offseason, and it has resulted in Oklahoma City becoming the first club to reach its full 21-man roster limit (its 21st player, Keyontae Johnson, is on a two-way contract).
Of the Thunder’s 20 players on standard deals, at least 17 have guaranteed salaries for 2023/24. That group doesn’t include Jack White, whose full contract details have yet to be reported, or Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, both of whom are on non-guaranteed contracts after playing well in rotation roles in ’22/23.
If the Thunder intend to keep White, Joe, and Wiggins into the regular season, they’ll have to trade or waive five players on guaranteed salaries. The players recently acquired in those salary-dump deals – including Victor Oladipo, Davis Bertans, TyTy Washington, and Usman Garuba – would probably be most at risk. Of the Thunder’s returning players, Tre Mann and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are among those whose roster spots may not be fully secure.
Memphis Grizzlies
(17 standard contracts)
Like the Thunder, the Grizzlies took on some unwanted contracts in offseason trades in order to acquire other assets.
The two players Memphis received in those deals – Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd – are the most likely odd men out for the 15-man regular season roster, since none of Memphis’ other 15 players are obvious trade or release candidates.
San Antonio Spurs
(17 standard contracts)
The Spurs actually only have 16 players on standard contracts for the time being, but are reportedly bringing back Sandro Mamukelashvili on a one-year deal. He has yet to officially re-sign and the exact details of his contract are unclear.
Assuming San Antonio plans to have Mamukelashvili on its 15-man regular season roster, the team will need to trade or waive two other players before opening night. That number could grow if the Spurs want to sign Dominick Barlow or Sidy Cissoko to a standard contract, but they do have two-way slots available for both.
Cameron Payne, Cedi Osman, Reggie Bullock, Devonte’ Graham, and Khem Birch are a few of the veterans on expiring or pseusdo-expiring contracts who probably aren’t in the Spurs’ long-term plans. But some of those guys would be useful contributors on the court this season and might have a little trade value, so San Antonio might not be done dealing.
Washington Wizards
(16 standard contracts)
The Wizards have a new front office in place for this season, so some of the reserves on expiring contracts who were brought in by the old regime could be candidates to be traded or waived. That group includes Delon Wright, whose name has come up in trade rumors this summer, Xavier Cooks, whose multiyear deal is only guaranteed for 2023/24, and Anthony Gill.
The new regime has also acquired a few players this offseason who may have been traded for financial or salary-matching reasons more than for how they fit into the Wizards’ plans going forward. Of those players, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala are on expiring contracts, while Patrick Baldwin and Landry Shamet aren’t currently owed guaranteed money beyond 2023/24 (Ryan Rollins has a $600K partial guarantee in ’24/25).
It wouldn’t shock me if the Wizards end up moving off multiple players on the current roster and making another addition or two before the regular season begins.
Others to watch
The Hawks are currently carrying 16 players on standard contracts, but only 15 are guaranteed, making Vit Krejci and his non-guaranteed salary the probable odd man out. Atlanta also reportedly remains active in trade talks, which could further shake up the roster.
The Hornets only have 12 players on guaranteed salaries, but they also have a pair (JT Thor and Kobi Simmons) on non-guaranteed deals, plus a pair of restricted free agents (P.J. Washington and Theo Maledon) and a No. 31 overall pick (James Nnaji) who remain unsigned. Charlotte can comfortably manage the 15-man limit, especially if Nnaji spends the season overseas, but may have to deal with a minor roster crunch if Washington and Maledon both return.
The Clippers, like the Hawks, have 15 players on guaranteed salaries and a 16th (Jason Preston) on a non-guaranteed deal. Los Angeles pushed back Preston’s guarantee date, which suggests the team may be open to hanging onto him if a roster spot becomes available (perhaps in multi-player James Harden trade?).
The Trail Blazers and Sixers are worth monitoring, since they would likely take back more players than they send out in any trade involving Damian Lillard or Harden. For now though, both teams have plenty of roster space — Portland has 13 players on standard contracts (12 fully guaranteed), while Philadelphia has 14 (13 fully guaranteed).
The Mavericks are reportedly eyeing former Timberwolves shooting Jaylen Nowell, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North suggests on a new episode of his podcast The Scoop.
“No, he’s not coming back to the Wolves,” Wolfson said. “There’s a mutual understanding that, ‘Hey, time for Jaylen to move on.’ But here’s a new team in on Jaylen Nowell: the Dallas Mavericks. They need to create some roster flexibility, they are looking into doing some stuff is the word and it may not come to fruition. But Jaylen Nowell is on Dallas’ radar. The Nowell camp is still also awaiting finality on the Damian Lillard situation.”
The 6’4″ Nowell, now an unrestricted free agent, had been with Minnesota since being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft out of Washington. He enjoyed his most prolific season yet in 2022/23, averaging 10.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.6 SPG in 65 contests.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- The Mavericks made some major offseason moves to reconfigure their roster following a disappointing end to the 2022/23 season, but will they be enough in a talented West? In a new reader mailbag, Tim Cato of The Athletic asserts that, while Dallas may not be quite a legitimate contender yet, the team made some solid new veteran and rookie additions while replenishing some future draft equity.
- New Grizzlies shooting guard Josh Christopher could yet emerge as a helpful rotation piece for Memphis, in part due to a minor shortage at the position, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Memphis acquired the 6’5″ swingman as part of the five-team sign-and-trade that shipped Dillon Brooks to the Rockets — the team still has 17 players on standard guaranteed contracts, so it’s unclear whether or not Christopher will be on the regular season roster.
- In case you missed it, we took stock of the offseasons of two lowly 2022/23 Southwest clubs, the Rockets and Spurs, and asked you which club they thought would have a better record in 2023/24.
- Davonte Pack, a close friend of Grizzlies star Ja Morant, was arrested this week for misdemeanor assault stemming from a pick-up basketball game at Morant’s house last summer, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Morant and others are involved in a civil lawsuit for allegedly striking a teenager during the game.
- Jake LaRavia, David Roddy and Ziaire Williams are all possibilities to be the Grizzlies‘ starting small forward when the season begins, according to Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Memphis didn’t bring in anyone to replace Dillon Brooks after he signed with Houston, so there’s not an obvious choice for the position. Cole adds that once Ja Morant returns from his suspension, he may start alongside Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Desmond Bane sliding to small forward.
Of the 58 players who were selected in last month’s draft, 50 have signed their first NBA contracts during the first two weeks they’ve been permitted to do so.
As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:
- First-round picks signed using the rookie scale exception: 29
- Second-round picks signed using the new second-round pick exception: 13
- Note: Of these 13 players, 12 received four-year contracts, while one (Rayan Rupert) signed a three-year deal.
- Second-round picks signed to two-way contracts: 8
That leaves eight players from the 2023 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Those players are as follows:
- Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Mavericks
- James Nnaji, Hornets
- Tristan Vukcevic, Wizards
- Sidy Cissoko, Spurs
- G.G. Jackson, Grizzlies
- Mojave King, Pacers
- Jordan Miller, Clippers
- Tarik Biberovic, Grizzlies
Not all of these players will sign an NBA contract in 2023/24. King and Biberovic are each expected to spend at least one season playing overseas before coming stateside. Vukcevic is another candidate to become a draft-and-stash prospect.
It’s also unclear whether the Hornets plan to sign Nnaji right away or let the 18-year-old big man continue developing his game in Europe. For now, Charlotte only has 12 players on guaranteed contracts for 2023/24, but depending on which restricted free agents (P.J. Washington, Theo Maledon) and players on non-guaranteed deals (JT Thor, Kobi Simmons) return, there might not be a spot for Nnaji, who remains under contract with FC Barcelona and – as a No. 31 overall pick who would require an international buyout – wouldn’t be a candidate for a two-way deal.
Prosper is the only unsigned first-rounder in this year’s class, but the delay doesn’t seem like anything to worry about. The Mavericks, who continued this past week to explore the trade market and consider how to fill out their roster, have taken their time getting around to signing a handful of players, with deals for free agents like Seth Curry and Dante Exum only becoming official on Friday. I’d expect Prosper’s contract to be finalized soon.
That leaves Cissoko, Jackson, and Miller, each of whom look like candidates to receive two-way contracts. Some of the other players drafted in their range, including No. 41 pick Amari Bailey and No. 46 pick Seth Lundy, have received two-way deals, and the Spurs, Grizzlies, and Clippers all have roster logjams, meaning there may not be room on their 15-man rosters for their unsigned second-rounders.
The Spurs will have 17 players on standard contracts once they officially re-sign Tre Jones and Sandro Mamukelashvili. The Grizzlies also have 17 players under contract and would have a full 15-man roster even if they trade or waive Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd. The Clippers have 16 players on standard contracts (15 guaranteed). However, all three teams have at least one two-way slot available.
- The Grizzlies plan to hire Heat director of player development and assistant coach Anthony Carter to be an assistant in Memphis, league sources tell Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian (Twitter link). A former NBA guard who played 13 years in the league, Carter, 48, helped develop Max Strus and Gabe Vincent, according to Hill. Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald confirms the news (via Twitter), noting that Carter has been with the Heat for the past five seasons.