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Grizzlies Decline Luke Kennard’s 2024/25 Team Option

June 29th, 2024 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies did not exercise Luke Kennard‘s $14.8MM team option for 2024/25 prior to Saturday’s deadline, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

While the move will make Kennard an unrestricted free agent, the two sides are “eager” to discuss a new, restructured deal, according to Wojnarowski.

Kennard was limited to just 39 games (22 starts) this past season for health reasons, including a left knee bone bruise, but was effective when he was available, with averages of 11.0 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game.

One of the NBA’s best three-point shooters, the 28-year-old wing has made at least 44.6% of his attempts from beyond the arc in each of the past four seasons, including 45.0% in 2023/24.

A $14.8MM salary isn’t unreasonable for a shooter of that caliber, but the Grizzlies would have been above the first tax apron if they had exercised Kennard’s option. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, team salary is now $8MM below the luxury tax line and $11.5MM below the first apron.

The Grizzlies value Kennard and what he brings to the rotation, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link), so a new deal is possible. However, as Cole notes, the veteran sharpshooter figures to draw interest on the open market.

Heat’s Caleb Martin, Thomas Bryant Opting For Free Agency

June 29th, 2024 at 4:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat forward Caleb Martin is turning down his $7.13MM player option for 2024/25 in order to become an unrestricted free agent, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Miami big man Thomas Bryant is also declining a player option and opting for unrestricted free agency, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Bryant’s option would have paid him about $2.85MM.

Martin’s decision comes as no surprise. He ranked 23rd on our list of this summer’s top 50 free agents. While his 2023/24 numbers (10.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.2 APG) don’t jump off the page, he’s the type of connecting piece that every team could use.

The 28-year-old wing can help out in a lot of different ways, including as a shooter (.368 3PT% during his three years in Miami) and switchable defender. He should draw interest from multiple teams willing to offer him more than he would have earned on his option.

Bryant’s decision, meanwhile, could have gone either way. The Heat envisioned him as Bam Adebayo‘s backup at the five when they signed him last summer, but the fit wasn’t as smooth as either side had hoped.

Bryant averaged 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 11.6 minutes per game across 38 appearances. While he may not receive offers above the minimum on the open market, it makes sense that he’d seek a situation where he might have a larger role.

Of the four Heat veterans who entered the week with player option decisions to make, only Josh Richardson opted in. Martin, Bryant, and Kevin Love all declined their options, though Love, at least, is considered a strong candidate to remain in Miami.

Thunder Declining 2024/25 Options On Joe, Wiggins

June 29th, 2024 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder won’t exercise their team options for 2024/25 on wings Isaiah Joe or Aaron Wiggins, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Both options were for very team-friendly rates — Joe’s was worth $2.165MM, while Wiggins’ was for $1.989MM. On the surface, it looks like a surprise that Oklahoma City is turning them down, given that the two players were solid rotation pieces in 2023/24.

However, as Charania notes, the Thunder don’t intend to let either player get away and will work on longer-term deals with both of them.

The thinking is that the Thunder will be able to keep Joe’s and Wiggins’ very small cap holds on the books, use up all of their cap room on other moves, then go over the cap to re-sign the two players to multiyear contracts using their Bird rights (or, in Joe’s case, Early Bird rights).

Joe and Wiggins will be rewarded with raises for the 2024/25 season and may in turn give the Thunder a better long-term rate than they would have if they became free agents a year from now (though that’s not a certainty).

Wiggins can be made a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer, and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) confirms he has received that offer (worth about $2.4MM). However, Joe has too many years of service to be an RFA, so I’d imagine the Thunder have a pretty good idea of what it will take to re-sign him.

Joe has spent the past two seasons in Oklahoma City after being waived by the Sixers. During that time, he has been one of the team’s most reliable shooters off the bench, averaging 8.8 points per game with a .412 3PT% in 151 outings (11 starts; 18.8 MPG).

Wiggins, the 55th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has been with the Thunder for three seasons, averaging 7.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 198 games (53 starts; 18.9 MPG) during that time. His career shooting line is an impressive .514/.394/.780.

Suns, Royce O’Neale Complete Four-Year Deal

June 29th, 2024 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: O’Neale’s new contract with the Suns is official, according to the NBA’s transaction log. It has a base value of $42MM, with an additional $2MM in unlikely incentives, Hoops Rumors has learned.

JUNE 29: Free agent forward Royce O’Neale intends to sign a four-year, $44MM contract to remain with the Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal won’t feature either a team or player option and will be fully guaranteed, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link). It will be the most lucrative contract of O’Neale’s career, topping his previous four-year, $36MM extension that’s about to expire.

The No. 19 player on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, O’Neale has been a reliable, durable wing since entering the league in 2017, never appearing in fewer than 69 games in a season across stints in Utah, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. The Suns acquired the former Baylor standout from Brooklyn in a three-team deal at February’s trade deadline.

A versatile defender with the size to match up against bigger wings and forwards, O’Neale isn’t much of an offensive threat, having never averaged more than 8.8 points per game in a season. But he’s a solid three-point shooter, with a career rate of 38.1% from beyond the arc, and he has averaged 3.2 assists per game over the past two seasons.

Because Phoenix projects to operate over the second tax apron in 2024/25, the team would have had no means to replace O’Neale or Grayson Allen with an equivalent player in free agency, so there was an expectation that both players would be re-signed. The Suns extended Allen in April and have now reached a deal to retain O’Neale as well.

Since O’Neale was expected to receive interest on the open market from rival suitors, the belief was that Phoenix would have to go up to three or four years to beat out clubs who might offer a higher starting salary. That turned out to be the case, with the Suns making a guaranteed four-year commitment to the 31-year-old.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, adding O’Neale’s new deal to the Suns’ books increases their projected team salary for next season to nearly $217MM. The luxury tax line is expected to come in around $171.3MM. There may be more moves to come that push the Suns’ salary in one direction or the other, but based on the current projections – and accounting for tax penalties – it would be the second-most expensive roster in NBA history, says Gozlan.

Hawks’ Saddiq Bey To Become Unrestricted Free Agent

June 29th, 2024 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have decided against tendering forward Saddiq Bey a qualifying offer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The move will ensure that Bey becomes an unrestricted free agent rather than a restricted FA.

The 19th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Bey spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Pistons before being traded to the Hawks at the 2023 deadline. The 25-year-old has shown promise as a three-and-D wing across his four NBA seasons, averaging 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 30.2 minutes per game across 292 total outings (223 starts).

However, Bey was inconsistent in 2023/24, making a career-low 31.6% of his three-point attempts in 63 games before suffering a left ACL tear in March. Assuming a normal recovery time, that injury is likely to sideline him for a good chunk of the 2024/25 season, if not all of it.

Prior to that knee injury, Bey met the “starter criteria,” increasing the value of his potential qualifying offer from about $6.5MM to $8.49MM.

Given his ongoing injury recovery and the Hawks’ proximity to the tax line, it makes sense that the team would decide against giving Bey that QO, even if it has some interest in retaining him. In a worst-case scenario for the Hawks, he could’ve accepted his QO, earning nearly $8.5MM while spending the 2024/25 season recovering from his torn ACL, then left Atlanta as an unrestricted free agent next summer once he’s healthy.

Celtics Picking Up Sam Hauser’s Option, Will Work On Extension

June 29th, 2024 at 10:54am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Celtics are picking up Sam Hauser‘s team option worth $2.1MM ahead of Saturday’s deadline, The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reports.

The move puts Hauser on track for unrestricted free agency in 2025. The Celtics could have made him a restricted free agent this summer by declining his team option.

However, the two sides are expected to begin negotiating a contract extension when the window to do so opens on July 9, according to Himmelsbach. Hauser would remain extension-eligible for the entire 2024/25 league year if he doesn’t agree to a new deal right away.

“I will say we want Hauser to be here for a long time,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said this week.

Hauser became a key player for the Celtics off the bench after originally joining the team on a two-way contract in 2021. This past season, he averaged 9.0 points on 42.4% shooting from deep (5.9 attempts) in 79 regular season games. He appeared in 14 playoff games and helped the Celtics win their 18th title.

We’re tracking all of the 2024/25 team option decisions right here.

Heat’s Kevin Love Declining Player Option

June 29th, 2024 at 10:07am CST by Tristan Tucker

Heat forward Kevin Love is turning down his player option for next season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Love will become an unrestricted free agent as a result of declining that $4MM option.

Even though Love is declining his option, the two sides are enthusiastic about reaching a new deal in the opening days of free agency, Wojnarowski reports. Love has spent the past season and a half with the Heat after being bought out by the Cavaliers ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.

Love has been one of the more underrated buyout pickups of the last few years, immediately settling into a veteran leader role while averaging 8.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 76 games with the Heat (22 starts). He was also a big part of Miami’s run to the NBA Finals in 2022/23, averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 37.5% from deep (4.4 attempts) in 20 postseason appearances.

Love, 35, is a five-time NBA All-Star and former champion with the Cavaliers in ’15/16. He has played 929 games (684 starts) while holding career averages of 16.5 points and 10.1 rebounds. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Love has a 73.47% chance to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

According to the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang, one option could be for Love to re-sign with the Heat at his minimum of about $3.3MM with an additional year attached (Twitter link). That would give the team some extra wiggle room under the second apron to keep some of its own free agents.

Clippers’ Russell Westbrook Exercising 2024/25 Player Option

June 29th, 2024 at 10:02am CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook is exercising his 2024/25 player option to return to the Clippers, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

As our player option decisions tracker shows, Westbrook will earn just over $4MM next season. His contract is fully guaranteed. June 29 is the deadline for player options for the ’24/25 season.

The 35-year-old guard primarily came off the bench last season for Los Angeles, averaging 11.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.5 APG and 1.1 SPG on .454/.273/.688 shooting in 68 regular season games (22.5 MPG). He struggled in the Clips’ first-round playoff loss to Dallas, averaging 6.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.2 SPG on .260/.235/.615 shooting in six games (19.0 MPG).

Either Westbrook was content to return to L.A. or he wasn’t confident he could exceed his $4MM option as an unrestricted free agent (or perhaps both). For what it’s worth, the veteran’s minimum for a player with Westbrook’s experience is projected to be just over $3.3MM in ’24/25.

A Long Beach native who played two years of college ball at UCLA, Westbrook is one of the most accomplished players in NBA history, making nine All-Star and All-NBA teams over the course of his 16-year career. He has led the league in points per game twice, assists per game three times, won All-Star game MVP twice, and was named to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team in 2021.

While he’s clearly past his peak, Westbrook still brings his trademark energy and tenacity every time he steps on the court.

Marc Stein reported last week that Westbrook exercising his option might not preclude the Clippers from exploring other options at backup point guard, with Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry among the names who have been linked to L.A.

Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell Exercising 2024/25 Player Option

June 29th, 2024 at 1:03am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell intends to exercise the player option on his contract for the 2024/25 season, he tells Jordan Richard of Swish Cultures (Twitter link). Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) confirms the news, as does ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link).

“I love what (new Lakers head coach) J.J. (Redick) is about and I really see myself thriving under his guidance to help win at a high level,” Russell told McMenamin.

The move will guarantee Russell’s $18,692,307 salary for next season. Rather than becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer, the 28-year-old will postpone his free agency until 2025, remaining on the two-year, $36MM deal he signed with the Lakers last July.

Russell is coming off one of the best seasons of his NBA career. He averaged 18.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 32.7 minutes per game across 76 regular season outings (69 starts), posting a shooting line .456/.415/.828.

However, for a second straight spring, he struggled vs. Denver in the postseason. His 2024 playoff averages dipped to 14.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, and 2.8 RPG on .384/.318/.500 shooting. A year earlier, he shot just 32.3% (13.3% on threes) in the Western Conference finals vs. the Nuggets and was removed from the starting five.

Russell’s player option decision was considered one that could go either way, since opting out would’ve given him more control over his future. Opting in will lock in his ’24/25 salary, but it doesn’t necessarily ensure he’ll remain in Los Angeles, since he looks like a prime trade candidate for a Lakers team seeking roster upgrades.

Russell ($18.7MM), Rui Hachimura ($17MM), and Gabe Vincent ($11MM) have been viewed as a few possible outgoing salary-matching pieces in the event L.A. takes a swing on the trade market for another impact player to complement star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Of those three players, only Russell is on an expiring contract — Hachimura and Vincent each have guaranteed salaries for 2025/26.

The Lakers are expected to be “aggressive in pursuing Russell-centric trades,” team and league sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic. If Russell does remain with the Lakers, he’d be in position to reclaim his starting point guard role next season, but Buha says the team considers the Russell/Austin Reaves backcourt duo to have a “clear ceiling” and prefers to keep Reaves, who is younger, a better defender, and on a more team-friendly contract.

Klay Thompson, Mavericks Have “Strong Mutual Interest”

June 28th, 2024 at 9:05pm CST by Tristan Tucker

“Strong mutual interest” is expected between Klay Thompson and the Mavericks when free agency opens on Sunday night, NBA insider Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack post.

Reports have long indicated the lack of contact between Thompson and the Warriors, the team with which he’s won four rings and played since 2011. Now, Stein says he’s heard from multiple sources that the Mavs are likely to emerge as the favorites to sign the Splash Brother.

Having agreed to send Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Pistons, the Mavericks will have some additional financial flexibility and are expected to be able to make a competitive multiyear contract offer to the five-time All-Star, Stein writes. However, with no cap room available, Dallas would likely need Golden State’s cooperation for a sign-and-trade deal — it’s not “immediately clear” whether such a deal could be negotiated, Stein acknowledges.

It’s also not known whether the Mavs would be able to retain Derrick Jones Jr. if they were to land Thompson, Stein adds. Jones, who was an instrumental piece en route to the Mavs’ NBA Finals appearance, is poised to sign with Klutch Sports for representation as he prepares to enter free agency, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

As has been reported, teams with cap space like Orlando and Philadelphia are expected to show interest in Thompson if he doesn’t return to the Warriors, but it’s believed that his preference is to remain in the Western Conference, according to Stein.