Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Paul George To Leave Clippers, Likely Headed To Sixers

June 30th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers were unable to gain any traction in negotiations with Paul George‘s representative and the veteran forward will sign elsewhere, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link)

Aaron Mintz of CAA, George’s agent, and Clippers president Lawrence Frank spoke a short time ago, Woj reports, but there was no new movement on a contract and George is prepared to join a new team. The Clippers have released a lengthy statement confirming the news, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays (via Twitter).

“Paul has informed us that he is signing his next contract with another team,” the Clippers announced. “… We negotiated for months with Paul and his representative on a contract that would make sense for both sides, and we were left far apart. The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract. We explored an opt-in and trade scenario, but it would have left us in a similar position under the new CBA, with very little asset value to justify the restrictions.

“We will miss Paul. At the same time, we’re excited by the opportunities we’ve now been afforded, including greater flexibility under the new CBA.”

The Clippers now project to operate well below the first tax apron, so they’ll have the $12.9MM mid-level exception and a $4.7M bi-annual exception at their disposal. However, they won’t have the cap room necessary to sign a player capable of replicating George’s production.

Meanwhile, the Sixers will meet with George in California this evening and are the strong frontrunners to sign him, Wojnarowski confirms (Twitter links).

A report earlier on Sunday expressed optimism on the 76ers’ front that they’d land their top free agent target. The Athletic’s Law Murray now reports that George will likely make a decision tonight and no other teams besides Philadelphia are in the running for his services (Twitter link).

Philadelphia is armed with ample cap room to sign a max-level free agent and is reportedly prepared to offer George the four-year, maximum-salary contract the Clippers were unwilling to put on the table. Throughout their negotiations with George, the Clippers remained steadfast on a three-year deal, similar to Kawhi Leonard’s contract extension. Leonard signed a three-year, $152.4MM contract in January.

Another potential suitor, the Magic, essentially took themselves out of the picture by reaching a three-year agreement with another high-level wing, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Clippers Trying To Trade Russell Westbrook

June 30th, 2024 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers are trying to work out a trade involving Russell Westbrook, who decided on Saturday to exercise his $4MM player option for next season, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). A potential Westbrook trade was also reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), who says L.A. is actively looking for someone to take on the veteran guard.

Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link) hears that the team is working with Westbrook to find a trade that benefits both of them. It’s believed Westbrook has played his last game for the franchise, Haynes adds.

League sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic that Westbrook has expressed interest in joining the Nuggets (Twitter link). Denver has an opening for a backup point guard after reaching an agreement this week to trade Reggie Jackson to Charlotte. Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports confirms (via Twitter) that the rumors of the Nuggets acquiring Westbrook are legitimate.

Westbrook adapted to a reserve role in his first full season with the Clippers, coming off the bench in 57 of the 68 games he played. He averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 22.5 minutes per night while shooting 45.5% from the field but just 27.3% from three-point range.

Westbrook provided a spark for the Clippers when he signed with the team late in the 2022/23 season following a buyout with the Lakers. However, his role diminished after a trade in early November that brought in James Harden to be the starting point guard.

The Clippers are facing salary cap and apron concerns and no longer view Westbrook’s salary as a wise investment as he nears his 36th birthday.

Sixers Sign Andre Drummond To Two-Year Deal

June 30th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: Drummond has officially signed his contract with the Sixers, the team announced today in a press release.

“I am thrilled that Andre is coming back to the 76ers. A tremendous presence, and one of the best rebounders the modern NBA has seen, he made a great impact with us during his first stint in Philly and we know he’ll do the same this time around,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “Andre possesses an innate ability to attack the glass and will fortify our formidable front-court.”

JUNE 30: Free agent center Andre Drummond is headed back to Philadelphia, having reached an agreement with the Sixers on a two-year deal worth more than $10MM, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The contract will feature a second-year player option, Scotto adds.

A few minutes before Scotto published his report, Drummond hinted at the deal himself, tweeting, “I’m in the mood for a Philly cheesesteak.”

A two-time All-Star, Drummond originally signed with the 76ers in 2021 to back up Joel Embiid and to fill in as the starter when Embiid was unavailable. However, he was sent to Brooklyn later that season as part of the trade package for James Harden.

After finishing the 2021/22 season with the Nets, Drummond has spent the past two seasons in Chicago as Nikola Vucevic‘s backup. He averaged just 15.1 minutes per game in 146 contests during his time as a Bull, well below his career average. However, he remained extremely productive on a per-minute basis, averaging 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in that limited role.

The Sixers, who attempted to acquire Drummond from the Bulls at the 2024 trade deadline, clearly made it a priority to land a reliable backup for Embiid, who has battled injuries over the years and appeared in just 39 games in 2023/24. Philadelphia reached a deal with Drummond just one hour into the free agent period — he’s the first FA reported to have an agreement in place with a new team.

Based on the reported terms of Drummond’s deal, it won’t necessarily need to come out of the Sixers’ $60MM+ in cap room. The team could use up that space, then sign the 30-year-old using a portion of its $8MM room exception.

Warriors Waive Chris Paul

June 30th, 2024 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

5:25pm: The Warriors have officially waived Paul, the team confirmed (via Twitter).

4:45pm: The Warriors are waiving point guard Chris Paul, Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report tweets. Paul will now become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers.

Golden State had to make a decision today whether to guarantee Paul’s $30MM salary for the 2024/25 season. Both the Warriors and Paul agreed to push back the guarantee date from Friday to Sunday.

The Warriors had attempted to include Paul’s contract in a blockbuster deal, including a potential swap with the Clippers for Paul George. However, they were unable to pull anything off.

Paul, who turned 39 in May, remained productive in 2023/24, averaging 9.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game in 58 appearances (18 starts) for the Warriors. He posted a shooting line of .441/.371/.827.

The rule prohibiting tax-apron teams from signing a waived player whose previous salary was higher than the full mid-level exception only applies if the player is cut during the regular season. Thus, Paul is free to sign with anyone.

The Suns, who can only offer veteran’s minimum contracts, could be an option for Paul, though John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) dismissed that possibility. The Clippers have also been mentioned as a potential landing spot.

Another intriguing possibility is the Spurs, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link), who says San Antonio has “strong” interest. The 12-time All-Star could be a natural, if short-term, pick-and-roll partner for Victor Wembanyama. There will undoubtedly be other suitors for the future Hall of Famer.

The Warriors, meanwhile, are in the unusual position of being under the tax aprons by shedding Paul’s contract. They currently have $147.2MM in salary commitments among 12 players, nearly $31MM under the first tax apron, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. That puts them in position to potentially use the full mid-level exception and/or bi-annual exception. Klay Thompson and Dario Saric are now free agents.

Klay Thompson, Warriors Parting Ways

June 30th, 2024 at 5:04pm CST by Rory Maher

Veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson is leaving the Warriors, the only franchise he’s known in his 13 NBA seasons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

According to Charania, the two sides are set to begin exploring sign-and-trade options for the five-time All-Star. Sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Thompson will talk to the Mavericks, Lakers, Clippers and Sixers with free agency officially underway (Twitter link).

The 11th pick of the 2011 draft, Thompson is one of the most accomplished shooters in league history, ranking sixth all-time in three-pointers made. The 34-year-old has knocked down 41.3% of his attempts from long distance over the course of his career.

The second “splash brother” next to Stephen Curry, Thompson played a key role in helping Golden State win four championships during his tenure with the team. Earlier in his career, he made a couple of All-NBA Third Team appearances, plus an All-Defensive Second Team nod back in 2018/19.

However, a torn ACL and a torn Achilles tendon cost Thompson two full seasons during his prime. While he has remained one of the NBA’s top three-point marksmen since he returned from those injuries in January 2022, he doesn’t have the same athleticism or defensive versatility he once did.

Thompson, who earned $43.2MM in 2023/24 during the final year of his max contract, reportedly turned down a two-year, $48MM extension from Golden State before last season began. Talks between the two sides went quiet leading up to free agency, which is always an ominous sign.

In 77 regular season games in ’23/24, Thompson averaged 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.3 APG on .432/.387/.927 shooting (29.7 MPG). He scored zero points and went 0-10 from the field as the No. 9 Warriors fell to the No. 10 Kings in the play-in tournament.

Max Christie Signs Four-Year Deal With Lakers

June 30th, 2024 at 4:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 6: Christie has officially signed his new contract with the Lakers, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link via Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group).

JUNE 30: Restricted free agent Max Christie plans to sign the Lakers’ four-year contract offer, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The deal is worth approximately $32MM and will include a player option in the final year.

It’s a strong commitment by the Lakers to Christie, an early second-round selection in 2022. Christie appeared in 41 games as a rookie, then spent much of last season in the rotation. He posted averages of 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 67 regular-season games, including seven starts. Christie has made 37.8% of his 3-pointers, a total of 180 attempts in all, during his two seasons.

Christie made the jump to the NBA after a one-and-done season at Michigan State. Still just 21 years old, Christie offers good size (6’5”) at the shooting guard spot and could see his role expand under new head coach J.J. Redick, though he’ll have plenty of competition — including first-round pick Dalton Knecht — for minutes behind Austin Reaves.

The Lakers extended a $2.3MM qualifying offer this weekend to Christie to make him an RFA. His younger brother Cam Christie was drafted in the second round by the Clippers on Thursday.

Christie’s contract will put the Lakers approximately $39MM below the $178.1MM first tax apron, but that doesn’t include LeBron James and Bronny James, cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (Twitter link).

Salary Cap, Tax Line Set For 2024/25 NBA Season

June 30th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially set the salary cap for its 2024/25 season. The cap has come in at $140,588,000, slightly below the most recent projection of $141MM. It represents an increase of about 3.36% on last season’s $136,021,000 cap.

Here are the details, courtesy of a league press release and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter link):

Salary cap: $140,588,000
Luxury tax line: $170,814,000
First tax apron: $178,132,000
Second tax apron: $188,931,000
Minimum salary floor: $126,529,000
Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $12,822,000
Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,168,000
Room exception: $7,983,000
Bi-annual exception: $4,668,000
Maximum salaries:
- 6 years or fewer: $35,147,000
- 7-9 years: $42,176,400
- 10+ years: $49,205,800
Early Bird exception: $12,991,650
Estimated average salary: $12,930,000
Trade cash limit: $7,240,000
Maximum Exhibit 10 bonus: $77,500

The first tax apron for the 2024/25 league year ($178,132,000) will be the hard cap for any team that acquires a player via sign-and-trade, signs a player using more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, signs or acquires a player using a bi-annual exception, uses any portion of its mid-level exception to add a player via trade or waiver claim, acquires more than 100% of the outgoing salary in a trade, or uses a trade exception generated prior to the start of the 2024 offseason.

The second tax apron ($188,931,000) represents the hard cap for a team that uses any portion of the mid-level exception, aggregates two or more player salaries in a trade, sends out cash in a trade, or uses a signed-and-traded player to take back salary.

The salary floor ($126,529,000) is the minimum amount a team must pay its players in 2024/25. A team that doesn’t spend up to that amount by the start of the regular season will pay the shortfall to the NBA and won’t be eligible for its full share of the luxury tax distribution at season’s end.

We have separate stories breaking the full year-by-year figures for this season’s maximum salaries, minimum salaries, and mid-level and bi-annual exceptions.

The Early Bird amount represents the maximum starting salary a team can offer a player it intends to re-sign using his Early Bird rights, assuming that amount is greater than 175% of his previous salary.

Players earning below the estimated average salary in 2024/25 who are eligible for a veteran extension can receive a starting salary of up to 140% of the estimated average salary on a new deal. So the maximum starting salary for a player earning below the league average who signs an extension that begins in 2025/26 will be $18,102,000.

The trade cash limit is the maximum amount of money a team can send or receive during the 2024/25 league year. The sent and received categories are separate, so if a team sends out $7,240,000 in one trade and receives $7,240,000 in another, they aren’t back at square one — they’ve reached both limits.

The maximum Exhibit 10 bonus is, as its name suggests, the highest possible bonus available to a player who signs an Exhibit 10 contract with an NBA team, gets cut, then spends at least 60 days with that club’s G League affiliate.

This amount ($77,500) is also the maximum two-way protection amount, which means a player who signs a two-way contract before the season can get up to $77.5K guaranteed upon signing. A player who signs a contract with more than $77.5K guaranteed is not subsequently eligible for a two-way contract with that team in 2024/25.

The NBA’s cap increased by the maximum allowable 10% during the 2022 and 2023 offseasons and is expected to do so again in 2025 as the league’s new media rights deal takes effect, so this year represents an outlier, creating more challenges circumstances for teams navigating the cap and the aprons. The NBA has officially issued a $154,647,000 cap projection for 2025/26, Pincus confirms (Twitter link).

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Report: Growing Optimism Sixers Will Land Paul George

June 30th, 2024 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s “growing optimism” that the Sixers will be able to win the Paul George sweepstakes and land the star forward, reports Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

George, who declined his 2024/25 player option with the Clippers on Saturday, is expected to meet with the 76ers, the Magic, and the Clips on Sunday night after the free agent period officially opens. Both Philadelphia and Orlando are said to be willing to offer a four-year, maximum-salary contract for George and have the cap room necessary to do so.

In addition to putting a four-year max deal on the table for him, the Sixers can offer George the opportunity to team up with 2023 MVP Joel Embiid and 2024 Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey, creating a formidable big three that would make Philadelphia a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.

Marc Stein reported this afternoon that the Sixers are exploring ways to maximize their cap room and land both George and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, a maximum-salary contract for George would leave Philadelphia with only about $13MM in cap room, plus the $8MM room exception.

Acquiring either George or Caldwell-Pope via sign-and-trade could allow for a higher starting salary for KCP, but would require the cooperation of the player’s old team and would hard-cap the 76ers’ team salary at the first tax apron.

Teams aren’t permitted to negotiate or reach agreements with outside free agents until after the NBA’s free agent period officially opens at 5:00 pm Central time today.

Obi Toppin Signs Four-Year Contract With Pacers

June 30th, 2024 at 12:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 6: Toppin has officially re-signed with the Pacers, the team announced in a press release.

“Obi Toppin embraced our city, our team, and his role from the moment he arrived, and then proved time and again to be an integral part of the success we achieved last season in reaching the Eastern Conference Finals,” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “Obi’s style of play, selfless attitude, and work ethic are all consistent with the culture we’ve built here, and we’re confident he will play a key role for us moving forward.”

JUNE 30: Restricted free agent Pacers power forward Obi Toppin intends to sign a four-year, $60MM contract to stay in Indiana, sources inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

As Wojnarowski notes, the 6’9″ Dayton alum emerged as a critical bench contributor for a Pacers club that advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference finals this past spring for the first time in a decade.

The eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft, Toppin was traded from New York to Indiana a year ago in exchange for a pair of second-round picks after he spent his first three professional seasons with the Knicks. In his first year as a Pacer, the 26-year-old set new career highs in points (10.3), rebounds (3.9), and assists (1.6) per game, as well as field goal percentage (57.3%) and three-point percentage (40.3%).

With tentative deals in place for Pascal Siakam (four years, maximum salary) and Toppin, the Pacers’ team salary for 2024/25 projects to be about $6.4MM below the luxury tax line with at least two roster spots still to be filled, tweets cap expert Yossi Gozlan.

While it’s technically possible for the Pacers to use their full mid-level exception and stay below the first tax apron, doing so would make them a taxpayer, so that’s unlikely. It also remains to be seen whether the team will have room under the tax to bring back free agent big man Jalen Smith on a new deal after he opted out of his contract on Saturday. Of course, a cost-cutting move to create additional spending flexibility is always a possibility.

Toppin had been the No. 27 player on our list of this summer’s top 50 free agents.

Alex Len Re-Signs With Kings

June 30th, 2024 at 11:51am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 9: Len has officially re-signed with the Kings, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

JUNE 30: Kings center Alex Len will return to the team on a one-year contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It will be the fourth straight season in Sacramento for the 31-year-old Len, who originally joined the team as a free agent in 2021 and then re-signed last summer. Len appeared in 48 games this season, all off the bench, and averaged 2.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 9.3 minutes per night.

Len will be back on a veteran’s minimum deal for 2024/25, and although he’s projected to make a little more than $3.3MM, the new contract will only count as $2.1MM for Sacramento’s salary cap and tax purposes.

Len was considered to be a top prospect when he was selected by Phoenix with the fifth pick in the 2013 draft. He never got close to achieving stardom, but he has been able to carve out a long NBA career, mostly as a backup center. He also had brief stays in Atlanta, Toronto and Washington before coming to the Kings.

With Malik Monk agreeing to a new deal last week, Sacramento has taken care of both its unrestricted free agents before they could begin negotiating with other teams.