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Kings’ Devin Carter Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Out 6 Months

July 11th, 2024 at 4:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 11: Carter underwent successful surgery and is expected to return in six months, reports Sean Cunningham of KTXL Fox 40 (Twitter link).

JULY 7: Kings rookie lottery pick Devin Carter is slated to go under the knife, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who reports that the guard is undergoing left shoulder surgery.

The procedure will take place next week, per Charania. An exact recovery timeline is not yet known, although the availability of the 6’2″ point guard for the beginning of 2024/25 is said to be in question.

It had been previously reported that the former Providence guard would sit out both the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League due to the injury.

The 2023/24 Big East Player of the Year, Carter averaged 19.7 points (on .473/.377/.749 shooting), 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game across 33 contests for the Friars last year, all starts.

Carter was Sacramento’s only draft pick this season, after the club offloaded their rights to the No. 45 pick, former Houston point guard Jamal Shead, to the Raptors.

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Jontay Porter Pleads Guilty To Felony, Likely Facing Prison Time

July 10th, 2024 at 7:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Former Raptors big man Jontay Porter pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a federal felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, reports Jennifer Peltz of The Associated Press.

“I know what I did was wrong, unlawful, and I am deeply sorry,” said Porter, who was released on a $250K bond signed by his mother and wife, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Porter’s sentencing is set for December 18 in New York.

Prosecutors estimated that Porter could receive 41 to 51 months in prison, but the final say will come from a judge, who could impose no time or up to a maximum of 20 years. The 24-year-old is also likely to be docked “hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution and fines,” per Peltz.

Porter, who told the court he is in therapy and has received inpatient rehabilitation for a gambling addiction, was banned from the NBA in April following an investigation into betting-related irregularities.

Porter is tied to another federal case involving four men who are also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The defendants are accused of profiting from prop bets based on the knowledge that Porter would exit a pair of games early. The complaint also alleges that Porter – who isn’t identified by name but fits the description of the player described – was supposed to receive a portion of the winnings. Porter was allegedly pressured by one of the defendants due outstanding gambling debts. The four defendants have yet to enter pleas.

In 26 games for Toronto in 2023/24, Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 13.8 minutes per night. He earned $415K last season while on a two-way contract with the Raptors.

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Pistons Sign Cade Cunningham To Five-Year Max Extension

July 10th, 2024 at 3:17pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 10: Cunningham’s maximum-salary extension is official, the Pistons announced today in a press release.

Cunningham is the third player to sign a max rookie scale extension this offseason, joining Scottie Barnes of the Raptors and Franz Wagner of the Magic.

JULY 9: The Pistons and Cunningham are in agreement on a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension, agents Jeff Schwartz and James Dunleavy tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says it’s a $224MM deal that could be worth up to $269MM, which means it will include Rose rule language that could bump the starting salary from 25% of the 2025/26 cap to 30% if Cunningham makes an All-NBA team

JUNE 30: The Pistons intend to sign 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham to a five-year, rookie scale max extension, sources tell Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The exact value of Cunningham’s extension is currently unknown. If the salary cap rises by 10% in 2025/26, which is when the extension will kick in, it would be worth approximately $224MM.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks hears (via Twitter) that while Detroit and Cunningham have discussed an extension, a deal doesn’t appear to be imminent. However, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press has sources who say it’s on track to get done. The guard can’t officially sign anything until July 6.

After a promising ’21/22 campaign which saw Cunningham finish third in Rookie of the Year voting, the 22-year-old was limited to just 12 games due to season-ending surgery in ’22/23. Despite the Pistons finishing with the NBA’s worst record in ’23/24, Cunningham had a strong third season, averaging 22.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.5 APG and 0.9 SPG on .449/.355/.869 shooting in 62 games (33.5 MPG).

Assuming Cunningham’s contract comes to fruition, which seems likely, he would join Raptors forward Scottie Barnes as the second player from the 2021 draft class to agree to a rookie scale extension. The full list of players eligible for rookie scale deals can be found right here.

While Barnes agreed to an extension that features Rose rule language, potentially allowing him to earn 30% of the ’25/26 salary cap instead of 25%, the terms Charania and Edwards reported suggest that Cunningam might not have gotten that offer from Detroit. Either way, it’s a major commitment to the 6’6″ guard, who will earn $13.94MM in ’24/25, which is the final season of his rookie scale contract.

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NBA Finalizes Media Rights Deals With ESPN, NBC, Amazon

July 10th, 2024 at 2:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has finalized deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime, reaching agreements to make the three broadcasters its media rights partners for the next decade-plus, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. According to Marchand, the 11-year contracts – which will go into effect with the 2025/26 season – will be worth a total of approximately $76 billion.

These agreements had been anticipated for quite some time, but they still don’t entirely close the book on the NBA’s latest round of media rights negotiations.

The next step, Marchand explains, will be for the league’s Board of Governors to officially approve the deals with the three prospective TV partners. That’s viewed as a formality and is expected to happen when the board meets in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Once the Board of Governors signs off on the contracts, they’ll be sent to TNT Sports, the NBA’s longtime media partner, which was unable to agree to terms with the league during this round of negotiations. TNT’s previous deal with the NBA reportedly includes some form of matching rights, so the broadcaster will have five days to decide whether it wants to attempt to exercise those rights.

If TNT passes on that opportunity, the NBA is expected to officially announce its new media rights deal prior to the start of the Olympics later this month, according to Marchand.

If TNT opts to match one of the offers – the expectation is that Amazon’s package would be the target, per Marchand – it could extend the process. The expectation is that there could be a legal battle over whether TNT’s matching rights would be valid, given the differences between what a cable channel like TNT and a streaming giant like Amazon could offer the league.

Marchand provides some additional details on the broadcast plans, assuming ESPN, NBC, and Amazon ultimately move forward as the NBA’s partners:

  • ESPN would slightly reduce its total number of games, from about 100 to 80 per season. During the NFL season, ESPN would air games on Wednesday and Sundays, with ABC getting Saturday night games. ESPN would also air Friday games after the NFL season concludes.
  • NBC would air Sunday night games after the NFL season ends, emulating its “Sunday Night Football” broadcasts. NBC is also expected to broadcast games on Tuesday throughout the season, with Monday games on Peacock, its streaming service.
  • Amazon Prime Video is expected to air games on Thursday nights after the NFL season wraps up, similar to its “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts during the NFL season. Amazon will also likely broadcast games on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the season.
  • Amazon will be the home of the NBA’s in-season tournament.
  • All three broadcast partners will air playoff games. Amazon and NBC will each have a conference finals every other year, while ESPN will have one every year. ESPN/ABC will also get the NBA Finals each season.

ESPN is expected to pay about $2.6 billion per season for its rights, while NBC will pay $2.5 billion and Amazon will pay $1.8 billion, per Marchand.

The NBA’s previous media rights agreement with TNT and ESPN, which began in the 2016/17 season, was worth $24 billion over nine seasons. The new money that came in as a result of that deal generated a significant salary cap spike in 2016 (approximately 35%), but the NBA and NBPA have taken steps to ensure that won’t happen again this time around, with annual cap increases capped at 10%.

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Team Canada Finalizes 2024 Olympic Roster

July 10th, 2024 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Canadian national team has formally announced its 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics, making its final cuts ahead of Wednesday’s exhibition games against Team USA.

Team Canada’s 12-man squad is as follows:

While the group obviously isn’t as star-studded as the U.S. roster, it’s headed up by a 2024 MVP finalist (Gilgeous-Alexander) and a guard who was the second-best player on the 2023 NBA champions (Murray). In total, it features 10 active NBA players, and all of them played regular roles for their respective teams in 2023/24.

The only two non-NBA players are Birch, who spent six seasons in the league but now plays in Spain, and Ejim, a former Iowa State standout and a Team Canada veteran who has been a productive contributor for several teams in Europe since 2014.

Andrew Wiggins is among the notable names missing from Team Canada’s squad for Paris. He was on the original training camp roster but withdrew right before camp began due to what the Warriors referred to a mutual decision. Various reports, however, suggested that Golden State was the party driving that decision.

Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey also removed his name from the training camp roster in order to focus on Summer League and his first NBA season.

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, both of whom were coming off injuries that ended their 2023/24 seasons, were among the players who attended training camp but weren’t in the mix for roster spots for the Paris Olympics. Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller was in that group too.

This will be the first time Canada has been in the men’s basketball event at the Olympics since 2000.

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Derrick White Replaces Kawhi Leonard On Team USA Roster

July 10th, 2024 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

11:05am: As first confirmed by Spears (via Twitter), White has officially replaced Leonard on Team USA’s roster, according to a press release.

“I am happy to announce that Derrick will compete at his first Olympic Games on the heels of a championship season in Boston,” managing director Grant Hill said in a statement. “We look forward to him joining the team in the coming days as we continue preparations for Paris. “I want to thank Kawhi for his commitment to the USA Men’s National Team. He earned the opportunity to represent the United States, but USA Basketball and Clippers leadership felt it’s important to allow Kawhi to prepare for the NBA season.”

Team USA now features three members of the defending champion Celtics, with White joining teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.

9:57am: Star Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will withdraw from Team USA’s roster ahead of the Olympics in Paris, sources tell Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic (Twitter link).

USA Basketball intends to name a replacement for Leonard on the 12-team roster that will travel to Paris, with Celtics guard Derrick White considered a strong candidate, according to Charania and Vardon.

Leonard was sidelined at the end of the 2023/24 season due to right knee inflammation. He missed the last eight games of the regular season and first game of the playoffs due to the ailment, returned for Game 2 and Game 3 vs. Dallas, then sat out the final three contests of the Clippers’ first-round loss.

After reporting to Team USA’s training camp, he said over the weekend that his knee had improved in recent weeks enough for him to play this summer. Neither The Athletic’s report nor USA Basketball’s official statement (Twitter link) on Leonard’s exit from the team specifically mentions that knee, but it sounds as if the forward’s health is the motivating factor for the decision.

“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas,” Team USA’s statement reads. “He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”

While that statement suggests the decision was made by the Clippers and Team USA, Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link) hears from a source that Leonard’s camp reached out a couple days ago to USA Basketball to express concern.

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Bucks Guarantee A.J. Green’s Salary For 2024/25

July 10th, 2024 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have guaranteed A.J. Green‘s $2,120,693 salary for the 2024/25 season, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

As our list of early salary guarantee dates shows, Milwaukee would have had to waive Green by July 8 in order to avoid being on the hook for his minimum salary for ’24/25. Scotto’s reporting is confirmation that the two sides didn’t agree to push back that date.

Green, who went undrafted out of Northern Iowa in 2022, caught on with the Bucks on a two-way contract in July 2022 and was promoted to the standard roster on a new multiyear deal one year later. He played sparingly as a rookie, but saw a little more action in his second season, averaging 4.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game across 56 appearances off the bench.

A long-distance marksman, the 24-year-old has made 41.2% of his career three-point attempts (113-of-274). The Bucks lost their top three-point shooter (Malik Beasley) in free agency, so they may lean more heavily on Green in his third NBA season for floor-spacing purposes.

With Green’s salary now locked in, the Bucks are carrying 13 standard guaranteed contracts for 2024/25, with second-year guard Andre Jackson holding a partial guarantee on his minimum-salary deal. All three of their two-way contract slots are occupied.

As for Green, he remains under contract for one more season beyond this one — his $2.3MM salary for ’25/26 would become guaranteed if he’s not waived by July 8, 2025.

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Pistons Claim Paul Reed Off Waivers

July 9th, 2024 at 4:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons are claiming former Sixers big man Paul Reed off waivers, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets. The Pistons have confirmed the move in a press release (Twitter link).

Reed was placed on waivers on Saturday when Philadelphia chose to sign free agent forward Caleb Martin. He had been due to clear waivers and become a free agent at 4:00 pm CT if he had gone unclaimed.

The Pistons will use some of their available cap room to claim Reed, who signed a three-year, $23,555,150 contract last summer with Philadelphia. Only the first year was guaranteed — his $7.7MM salary for next season remains non-guaranteed until early January, and his $8.1MM salary for 2025/26 will stay non-guaranteed as long as his team doesn’t advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The Pistons could retain Reed to compete with or back up incumbent center Jalen Duren, use Reed as a trade chip, or waive him again if they need to clear cap room to make another move.

Reed has evolved into a serviceable backup in the frontcourt over the past few seasons. In 2023/24, he averaged 7.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.0 blocks, appearing in all 82 of Philadelphia’s regular season games.

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Trade Rumors Front Office: Changes To Article Delivery

July 9th, 2024 at 9:52am CST by Tim Dierkes

I created our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service several years ago due to challenges with the online advertising revenue model. For $29.89 per year, a Trade Rumors Front Office subscription removes ads on all our sites and in our app, provides weekly original articles from longtime Hoops Rumors head writer Luke Adams, and grants access to a weekly live chat with Arthur Hill.  I think we’re offering strong value for the price, and more features are on the way for subscribers.

To date, Luke’s exclusive articles have been delivered entirely via email. This has resulted in a missed benefit for new subscribers, who had no access to previously-sent articles. Sometimes people sign up specifically because they hear about a certain Front Office original we sent out. They would inquire about it and I’d forward the email to them along with other recent exclusives. This was not an efficient system, so I’ve decided to create an archive of Trade Rumors Front Office articles on Hoops Rumors itself. New subscribers will be able to go back and check out previous content as soon as they sign up.

This will be accomplished in the form of a paywall. Roughly twice per week on average, a paywalled Trade Rumors Front Office article or live chat will appear on Hoops Rumors. We averaged 14.9 posts per day on Hoops Rumors last year, to give you a sense of how often you’ll run into this paywall. If you’re a logged-in subscriber, you will not see the paywall. Everyone else will see just a snippet of the article before running into it.

Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers will continue to receive these articles via email as well. If you’re a subscriber and you decide you no longer need the emails because the articles are on the website, you can go here and unsubscribe from emails as needed. We have not yet built the paywall technology in our iOS and Android apps, so the exclusive articles will not appear there. If you’re an app user and paid subscriber you’ll want to continue receiving the emails.

Putting these Front Office articles on Hoops is not just about creating an archive. It will also serve as marketing for the subscription service. A portion of Hoops readers are interested in paying to read these articles, and I don’t think it makes sense to hide them. Some people will see the topics and read an excerpt and be convinced to subscribe. If that may apply to you, I should point out that it’s risk-free, in that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied for any reason.

Others will choose not to subscribe, whether due to lack of interest or their financial situation. Our ad-supported readers remain appreciated and vital to this website. It’s worth pointing out that the core function of Hoops Rumors is not changing. Luke and the Hoops writing team are still going to curate, contextualize, and analyze news from the around the game in real-time and provide up-to-the-minute transaction breakdowns, as this site has since 2012. That remains free and ad-supported. The Trade Rumors Front Office articles that will appear on this site are opinion and analysis-based, as you’ll see. We have no intention of paywalling news posts, which would not make sense.

We’re producing two Trade Rumors Front Office NBA articles/chats per week at present.  It’s likely we’ll eventually paywall additional opinion and analysis posts, particularly time-intensive ones.

Whether you’re a Trade Rumors Front Office subscriber or someone who enjoys the free ad-supported Hoops Rumors, you’re welcome here. After 12+ years the site is still going strong. Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask questions in the comment section.

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Kings Officially Acquire DeRozan, Spurs Get Barnes In Three-Team Swap

July 8th, 2024 at 6:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The blockbuster three-team deal involving DeMar DeRozan and Harrison Barnes is official, according to a Spurs press release, Kings press release, and Bulls press release.

The Spurs acquired Barnes from the Kings. In addition, San Antonio received the right to swap first-round picks with the Kings in 2031 while sending two-way player RaiQuan Gray to Chicago. 

Additionally, the Spurs are waiving Charles Bassey to complete the trade, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. However, San Antonio is exploring ways to bring Bassey back in the fold.

Sacramento acquired DeRozan from the Bulls while sending Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash considerations to Chicago, along with Barnes and the 2031 pick swap to San Antonio.

The Bulls will waive Gray, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets.

The deal is a sign-and-trade for DeRozan, who ranked sixth on our list of the top 50 free agents for this summer. His new contract is worth approximately $76MM over three years, according to Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link), who adds that the first two seasons are fully guaranteed with a partial guarantee for the final year.

The contract includes $49MM in guaranteed money over the first two seasons, per Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). It also features bonuses for being named an All-Star, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

The trade leaves the Kings hard-capped at the $178.1MM first apron, per cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Sacramento will also create a $5.9MM trade exception in the deal, Gozlan adds.

The 34-year-old DeRozan was extremely productive during his three seasons in Chicago, averaging 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game and finishing near the top in the Clutch Player of the Year balloting the past two seasons.

The six-time All-Star will now team with De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray on what should be one of the league’s most exciting offenses. The Kings will be counting on that group to lead them back to the playoffs after being eliminated in the play-in tournament last season.

Parting with DeRozan is the latest step in an offseason roster shakeup in Chicago, which has already traded Alex Caruso and lost Andre Drummond in free agency. The Bulls are shifting to a younger and less expensive roster in hopes of eventually rebuilding into a more competitive team.

Duarte, a 27-year-old swingman with three years of NBA experience, is the latest addition, but it’s uncertain how large his role will be. He appeared in 59 games with Sacramento last season, but averaged just 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per night.

Duarte is under contract for one more season at $5.9MM and is eligible for an extension through October 21. Chicago will create a significant trade exception in the deal $17.6MM trade exception in the deal, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

Barnes joins Chris Paul as veteran offseason additions in San Antonio. The 32-year-old is extremely durable, playing in all 82 games the past two seasons. He can handle either forward spot and he figures to get plenty of open looks alongside Paul and Victor Wembanyama. Barnes averaged 12.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season with .474/.387/.801 shooting stats.

The Spurs will use their cap space to absorb Barnes’ $18MM salary for the upcoming season, Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps write in a full story on the trade. Barnes will make $19MM in 2025/26 before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Barnes’ contract includes a $3.7MM trade kicker that Sacramento will be responsible for, Marks adds (Twitter link), broken up into $1.85MM for each of the next two seasons. That number could be negotiated down, but only with Barnes’ consent.

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