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Northwest Notes: Murray, Nuggets, Trent, Joe, Sharpe, Markkanen

July 12th, 2024 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Shams Charania reported back on June 27 that the Nuggets and Jamal Murray were “working toward” a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension, with the team expected to make the offer and the star guard expected to accept it. Over two weeks later, there’s still no deal in place.

A report earlier this week indicated that the Nuggets and Murray will likely wait until after the Olympics to finalize an agreement, and the 27-year-old Canadian essentially confirmed as much when asked this week by Troy Renck of The Denver Post about his contract situation.

“When we get there, we get there,” Murray said after the Canadian team lost an exhibition game to Team USA in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “I’m playing games right now for Canada, so that’s not on my mind.”

A maximum-salary extension for Murray, who is entering the final year of his current deal, would be worth a projected $207.85MM over four seasons.

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

  • Gary Trent Jr. isn’t a viable target for the Nuggets in free agency, according to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link), who hears that the 25-year-old swingman isn’t interested in accepting a minimum-salary contract and that there may not be much interest on Denver’s side anyway.
  • Isaiah Joe‘s new four-year, $48MM contract with the Thunder includes a fourth-year team option and has a descending salary structure, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Joe’s cap hit in 2024/25 will be $12,991,650 before dipping to $12,362,338 in ’25/26, with third- and fourth-year salaries of $11,323,006.
  • Although he attended Team Canada’s pre-Olympic training camp this summer, Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe wasn’t in the mix for a spot on the 2024 Paris roster. But Sharpe, who has been medically cleared following his core muscle surgery in February, is in Canada’s future plans, head coach Jordi Fernandez tells Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “We value him as an important player in the future, being a big part of this program,” Fernandez said. “We don’t only care about this tournament. We care about AmeriCup and the World Cup and L.A. in 2028. We want Shaedon to be a part of that.”
  • Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune takes a closer look at the Lauri Markkanen situation in Utah, exploring why the Jazz might be motivated to move the star forward and what they could reasonably expect to get in return.
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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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Western Notes: Morant, Klay, Wiggins, Barnes, Avdija

July 9th, 2024 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been cleared for all basketball activities, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Morant, who missed the first 25 games of the 2023/24 season due to a suspension, returned to action in December and immediately provided a spark for the Grizzlies, who won six of nine games with the star point guard in the lineup. However, a labral tear in Morant’s right shoulder ended his season after those nine games. He has been recovering from surgery in the months since then.

The Grizzlies were one of the NBA’s most injury-plagued teams in ’23/24, but head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters back in April that only Morant projected to have a recovery timeline extending well into the offseason. With a fully healthy roster, there’s optimism in Memphis that the club can bounce back from a 27-55 year and look more like the club that went 107-57 over the previous two regular seasons.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

  • Referring to his deal with the Mavericks as a “fresh start,” Klay Thompson told reporters on Tuesday that he’s optimistic about “kind of being rejuvenated” in Dallas, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN details. “Feeling just wanted again, like I bring great value, it just gets me excited to go out there and even work out after this press conference and get shots up,” Thompson said. “Yeah, there was times last year where it was tough, where it wasn’t as joyful as it was in the past. It’s nice to kind of shed that and have a whole new fresh start, whole new group of guys to get to know, co-workers, whole new city. It’s really cool, and I’m going to embrace the heck out of this opportunity.” In a story for The Athletic, Tim Cato takes a look at how Thompson will fit in on the Mavs’ roster.
  • Aaron Wiggins‘ new five-year contract with the Thunder is worth $45MM, with $2MM in bonuses that could push it up to the initially reported total of $47MM, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The deal has a descending structure and includes a fifth-year team option, Scotto adds.
  • New Spurs forward Harrison Barnes confirmed on Tuesday that he waived his $3.7MM trade kicker to facilitate his move to San Antonio, calling it a “pretty easy decision” and adding that he’s excited about playing for head coach Gregg Popovich, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
  • New Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija admitted on Monday that he was surprised to be traded by the Wizards, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “I think they really love me,” Avdija said of his old team. “I’ve done a lot for that organization. It was just not the timeline, I guess.” Now that he has gotten past that initial surprise, the 23-year-old is “excited” about the new opportunity in front of him. “They’ve welcomed me very well, so it’s a good start,” he said. “I’m glad to be in a place where people embrace me and love me. I’m going to bring my competitiveness, and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
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Hartenstein Impressed by Team's Progress

July 8th, 2024 at 10:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • New Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein is impressed by how the team has methodically been built into a potential powerhouse in the Western Conference, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. “I think they were doing it the right way,” said Hartenstein, who left the Knicks and signed a three-year, $87MM contract with OKC. “I feel like they weren’t trying to rush steps. I think every year you kind of saw them take the next step. I think every time you see them go on the court, there’s a certain competitiveness always to them. They’re very excited for each other, and I think in the NBA you don’t have that a lot where no matter who’s doing good, the whole team is excited for each other.”
  • The Thunder‘s additions of Hartenstein and Alex Caruso should benefit Chet Holmgren, Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustated opines. Holmgren will have more freedom to show off his passing and play-making skills. It also opens up opportunities for Holmgren to play alongside another big man.
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Contract Details: George, Martin, Wiseman, Isaac, Hield, More

July 8th, 2024 at 6:49am CST by Luke Adams

Following the end of the July moratorium on Saturday, teams wasted no time in officially finalizing many of the contracts they’d agreed to up until that point.

Now that those contracts have been completed, we have the official details on many of them. Here, via several reporters – including Keith Smith of Spotrac, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, and cap expert Yossi Gozlan – as well as our own sources, are some of those notable details:

Players with trade kickers:

Lakers forward LeBron James (15%), Knicks forward OG Anunoby (15%), Sixers forward Paul George (15%), Sixers forward Caleb Martin (15%), Mavericks sharpshooter Klay Thompson (15%), and Mavericks forward Naji Marshall (5%) received trade kickers on their new free agent deals, while Celtics guard Derrick White (15%) got one on his contract extension.

As an aside, James’ exact starting salary in 2024/25 is $48,728,845, which is $1,258,873 below the maximum he could have earned.

Players who waived their right to veto a trade:

A player who re-signs with his team on a one-year contract (or two-year contract with a second-year option) is typically awarded the right to veto a trade, but has the option to waive that option.

Heat center Thomas Bryant, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday, Raptors wing Garrett Temple, and Magic teammates Gary Harris and Moritz Wagner all surrendered their right to veto a trade in 2024/25 and could be moved freely.

Unlikely incentives:

Nets center Nic Claxton ($97MM base + $3MM incentives), Pacers forward Obi Toppin ($58MM +$2MM), Suns forward Royce O’Neale ($42MM +$2MM), and Sixers forward Martin ($35,040,704 + $5,256,106) are among the players whose contracts include unlikely bonuses that would boost the total guaranteed salary if those incentives are reached.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad observes, the structure of Martin’s contract helped the 76ers maximize their cap room, since his unlikely incentives don’t count toward the cap once he signs.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Martin’s “unlikely” incentives are easier to earn than a typical player’s incentives would be — I don’t expect them to be for making an All-Star team or anything like that. An incentive is considered unlikely for cap purposes if the player wouldn’t have met the criteria the year before. For example, as Nahmad suggests, a bonus related to Martin making 24 or more starts would be considered unlikely because he started 23 games last season. Martin’s bonuses – considered “unlikely” for cap purposes but perhaps “likely” to be earned in reality – could have served as a way to strengthen the Sixers’ offer without sacrificing that extra cap room.

It’s also worth noting that a player’s unlikely incentives can’t exceed 15% of his guaranteed base salary, and Martin’s $5,256,106 in incentives represent exactly 15% of his overall $35,040,704 salary.

Partial or non-guarantees and options:

James Wiseman‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Pacers is guaranteed for $500K in year one, with a team option for 2025/26. That team option would be guaranteed for $569,041 if exercised (ie. the same percentage as his first-year salary).

Luka Garza got a similarly structured two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Timberwolves, except his first year is fully guaranteed prior to his second-year team option. That 2025/26 option would be guaranteed if picked up.

As previously reported, Isaiah Hartenstein‘s three-year, $87MM deal with the Thunder includes a team option for 2026/27. It’s worth $28.5MM, with $58.5MM in guaranteed money across the first two seasons.

Magic teammates Harris ($7.5MM) and Wagner ($11MM) each have second-year team options on their two-year deals.

The Rockets used their full bi-annual exception to give Holiday a two-year deal worth $9,569,400 that includes a second-year team option ($4,901,400).

Neemias Queta‘s three-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics is fully guaranteed in year one with a partial guarantee of exactly 50% ($1,174,789 of $2,349,578) in year two, plus a third-year team option for 2026/27. The third-year option ($2,667,944) would be guaranteed for 50% ($1,333,972) if exercised. Since his minimum deal covers more than two years, a team wouldn’t be able to acquire Queta via the minimum salary exception if he’s traded down the road.

Jonathan Isaac‘s new long-term deal with the Magic is partially guaranteed ($8MM of $14MM) in 2026/27, with non-guaranteed salaries of $14.5MM in 2027/28 and $15MM in 2028/29. However, each of those salaries would become fully guaranteed if Isaac plays at least 52 games in the prior season. For instance, if Isaac were to appear in 54 games in 2026/27, his $14.5MM salary for ’27/28 would be fully guaranteed.

Sign-and-trade contracts:

Interestingly, Kyle Anderson‘s and Buddy Hield‘s new contracts with the Warriors have the exact same salaries for the first three seasons: $8,780,488, $9,219,512, and $9,658,536. Anderson’s three-year deal is fully guaranteed for the first two years and non-guaranteed in year three.

As for Hield, his four-year contract is fully guaranteed for the first two years, with a partial guarantee of $3MM for year three. His fourth year is a $10,097,560 player option that would be partially guaranteed for $3,136,364 if exercised.

Klay Thompson’s three-year contract with the Mavericks comes in at exactly $50MM, as reported — it starts at $15,873,016 and features 5% annual raises.

Jonas Valanciunas‘ three-year contract with the Wizards is worth $30,295,000 in total, beginning at $9.9MM (which is the amount of the trade exception generated for the Pelicans). It’s fully guaranteed for the first two seasons and non-guaranteed in year three.

Cody Zeller got a three-year, $11,025,000 deal in the sign-and-trade that sent him from New Orleans to the Hawks. The first year is guaranteed for $3.5MM, with two non-guaranteed seasons after that.

Finally, as part of the Mikal Bridges trade, new Nets guard Shake Milton got a three-year, $9,162,405 contract that has a guaranteed first-year salary of $2,875,000, with two non-guaranteed years after that ($3MM in 2025/26 and $3,287,406 in ’26/27). His teammate Mamadi Diakite, who was also sent to Brooklyn in the trade, had his $2,273,252 salary partially guaranteed for $1,392,150.

Milton’s $2,875,000 salary, Diakite’s $1,392,150 partial guarantee, and Bojan Bogdanovic‘s $19,032,850 salary add up to $23.3MM, which is equivalent to Bridges’ salary — the exact amount of outgoing salary the Knicks needed to send to avoid being hard-capped at the first tax apron.

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New York Notes: Bridges Trade, Hartenstein, Nets, Gaitley

July 7th, 2024 at 10:29am CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks‘ blockbuster trade with the Nets to acquire Mikal Bridges stunned his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, as Bradley Locker of The New York Post relays.

“I never thought it would happen,” Brunson said on the Roommates Show podcast he co-hosts with Hart. “When’s the last time the Nets made a trade with the Knicks?”

Hart answered Brunson’s question — 1983 — and elaborated on his own skepticism of a deal coming together.

“You don’t think it’s really going to happen, but you’re like, ‘You know what? Let me just go mess with ‘kal,’” Hart said, referring to postgame discussions in matchups between the Knicks and Nets. “Because that’s my guy.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:

  • Isaiah Hartenstein left the Knicks to join the Thunder in part because he believes he’ll have an opportunity to broaden his game, “especially offensively,” writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “If you’re an NBA player, you have to adapt to certain roles. And that’s what I did in New York,” Hartenstein said. “My passing only came out in the last year. My first year, I had to adapt to a certain role. So I feel like I can get back to that shooting aspect. Before, I was shooting, so I want to get back to that even more.” Hartenstein’s front-loaded three-year contract with Oklahoma City became official on Saturday. It will guarantee him $58.5MM over the next two seasons, with a third-year team option.
  • On the same Roommates Show podcast, Hart and Brunson expressed frustration that the Knicks were only able to offer Hartenstein a four-year, $72.5MM contract because he only had Early Bird rights, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). “I feel like in those situations, you shouldn’t be restricted on what you can sign your own guys for,” Hart said of Hartenstein. “Especially, like, he signed a two-year, $16 [million contract], he played well for you guys, under your coaches, your system. Then you should be rewarded in helping develop that guy and should be able to offer him whatever. You guys did really good, he played well. [But] let’s slow down, you can only offer him this? That’s idiotic.”
  • New head coach Jordi Fernandez will have his work cut out for him with the rebuilding Nets, according to Evan Barnes of Newsday (subscription required). Although there may be less pressure on Fernandez in some ways since Brooklyn will likely be a lottery team in 2024/25, trying to get buy-in from veterans on the trade block while developing the team’s young players will be a difficult balance to strike, Barnes observes.
  • The Nets are hiring Dutch Gaitley as an assistant coach, a source tells Net Income of NetsDaily.com (Twitter link). Gaitley, who previously spent four years with Charlotte, worked with Fernandez the past two years in Sacramento as the Kings‘ director of player development.
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Thunder Sign Draft Picks Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones, Ajay Mitchell

July 6th, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder have signed first-round picks Nikola Topic and Dillon Jones to rookie scale contracts, the team announced in a press release. Second-round selection Ajay Mitchell inked a two-way deal.

Chosen with the 12th pick, Topic was originally viewed as a potential top-five selection, but a partially torn ACL caused his draft stock to tumble. The 6’6″ point guard averaged 15.1 points, 5.9 assists and 3.2 rebounds for Crvena Zvezda this year in the Adriatic League. He’s not expected to play next season, giving the injury plenty of time to heal.

Jones, the 26th overall pick, was acquired from New York in a draft night trade. The 6’5″ small forward out of Weber State led the Big Sky Conference in scoring this season at 20.8 PPG, while adding 9.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.0 steals per night. He was a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.

Mitchell, a 6’4″ shooting guard out of UC Santa Barbara, was the 38th pick in the draft. He averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals this season and was a First Team All-Big West selection the past two years.

Assuming they both got the maximum rookie contract they were eligible to receive, Topic will earn about $4.9MM in his first season and $23MM across four years, while Jones will be paid $2.6MM as a rookie and $13.5MM on his four-year deal. Oklahoma City will have third- and fourth-year team options on both players.

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Patrick Williams Signs Five-Year Deal With Bulls

July 6th, 2024 at 2:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 6: The Bulls have officially re-signed Williams, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JUNE 29: Free agent forward Patrick Williams will re-sign with the Bulls for $90MM over five years, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The fifth season will be a player option, tweets Jamal Collier of ESPN.

Williams, 22, was expected to be a cornerstone of the franchise when Chicago selected him with the fourth pick in the 2020 draft. He hasn’t lived up to that billing due to injuries and inconsistent play, but executive Arturas Karnisovas decided to make keeping him a priority as part of his effort to build a younger and more athletic roster.

Williams received a $12.97MM qualifying offer this week, making him a restricted free agent. That means the Bulls could have matched any offer he received, but they opted to bypass that possibility by negotiating a new deal before free agency begins Sunday evening.

A stress reaction in Williams’ left foot cut short his season and forced him to undergo surgery in February. He averaged 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 43 games, but he wasn’t able to play after January 25.

A report this week indicated that the Bulls were optimistic about their chances of working out a new contract with Williams. The Thunder were believed to be among the teams that had interest in pursuing him.

Williams will get a healthy raise after earning $9.8MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract. When he and the Bulls discussed a possible rookie scale extension last fall, the forward turned down a four-year, $64MM offer and was believed to be seeking something closer to De’Andre Hunter‘s contract (four years, $90MM), per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. This new deal represents a compromise for the two sides.

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Thunder Sign Isaiah Hartenstein To Three-Year Deal

July 6th, 2024 at 11:20am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: With the July moratorium over, the Thunder have officially signed Hartenstein, the team confirmed in a press release.

JULY 1: Free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein is headed back west, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Hartenstein and the Thunder are in agreement on a three-year contract worth $87MM.

Hartenstein, who began his NBA career in Houston in 2018 and had a breakout year with the Clippers in 2021/22, has spent the past two seasons in New York, primarily serving as Mitchell Robinson‘s backup at the five. However, when Robinson went down with an ankle injury midway through the ’23/24 season, Hartenstein entered the starting lineup and acquitted himself extremely well.

In 75 regular season games (49 starts), Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 25.3 minutes per contest, making 64.4% of his shots from the floor and playing solid defense. He continued to start for the Knicks in the playoffs, where he registered 8.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 3.5 APG in 29.8 MPG.

Although the Knicks wanted to retain Hartenstein, they were limited to a maximum offer of approximately $72.5MM over four years, since they only held his Early Bird rights, which allowed for a raise of up to 75% on his $9.25MM cap hit from 2023/24.

New York put that offer on the table for the 26-year-old, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms (via Twitter). The Thunder blew it out of the water by comfortably exceeding the total value of the Knicks’ best offer across just three years instead of four, though Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link) hears that the frontloaded contract won’t be guaranteed in the final season.

Rookie of the Year runner-up Chet Holmgren was the Thunder’s starting center last season and excelled in that role. However, Holmgren lacks the bulk to match up physically with some of the NBA’s bigger centers, and Oklahoma City was among the worst-performing teams on the boards, ranking 28th in rebounding percentage (48.4%).

Hartenstein will help out in both areas while also giving the Thunder another rim protector and a talented frontcourt passer. On top of that, he’ll be a crucial insurance policy at the five in the event of an injury. While Holmgren didn’t miss a game in 2023/24, he sat out his entire rookie season in ’22/23 due to foot surgery.

Their deal with Hartenstein is the latest move in an impressive offseason for the Thunder, who kicked off their summer by trading ill-fitting guard Josh Giddey to Chicago in exchange for three-and-D ace Alex Caruso. OKC will use the rest of its cap room to sign Hartenstein, then will go over the cap to complete reported long-term agreements with Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.

The Knicks, meanwhile, will be in the market for a center. Robinson and Jericho Sims remain under contract in New York, but with Hartenstein gone and Precious Achiuwa in unrestricted free agency, the team will need to add at least one big man.

Magic big man Goga Bitadze has been mentioned as a possible target for the Knicks, but Begley (Twitter video link) hears that Bitadze has an offer on the table from Orlando that New York likely won’t be able to top. The Magic had been mentioned as a possible Hartenstein suitor, so presumably they’re more likely to bring back Bitadze with Hartenstein off the board.

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Western Notes: Carter, Suns, Nunez, Thunder, Jazz

July 5th, 2024 at 9:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Kings first-round pick Devin Carter will miss both the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues due to a left shoulder injury, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (subscription required).

General manager Monte McNair acknowledged after drafting Carter last week that the former Providence guard was dealing with a shoulder ailment and said the Kings’ doctors would be taking a closer look at it. While the injury will keep Carter out of action this month, McNair expressed confidence that it’s “not a long-term issue.”

The No. 13 overall pick told The Sacramento Bee that he suffered the injury in a pre-draft workout. Asked if he’s feeling pain or discomfort, Carter replied, “I’m feeling fine. I just want to get the team doctor’s opinion and go from there.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Within a story grading the Suns‘ re-signing of Damion Lee, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports says the team remains interested in bringing back Josh Okogie on a new deal worth more than the minimum. Phoenix currently has just one open spot on its 15-man roster, but Bourguet hears from a source that waiving a player like David Roddy or Nassir Little might be a possibility if Okogie is re-signed and another top free agent target (possibly Kyle Lowry) is available. I’d be pretty shocked if the Suns cut Little, who has three guaranteed years left on his contract, but Roddy isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season.
  • Spurs second-round pick Juan Nunez appears unlikely to sign an NBA contract immediately. A report from Spanish outlet Encestando (hat tip to Sportando) suggests Nunez is on track to join Barcelona on a deal that will give him the option to leave for the NBA next summer. The Spanish point guard was the No. 36 selection in last week’s draft.
  • In a pair of stories for The Oklahoman, Joel Lorenzi explores Isaiah Hartenstein‘s fit in Oklahoma City and examines what the Thunder‘s roster will look like after trading for Alex Caruso and adding Hartenstein in free agency. Lorenzi, who is projecting Caruso to start and Hartenstein to come off the bench, suggests the veteran center’s play-making and screening will help make the offense more versatile, which the Thunder could’ve used in this year’s playoffs.
  • The Lauri Markkanen trade rumors are a reflection of the Jazz‘s awkward current position, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (subscription required). As Larsen details, if they hang onto Markkanen, the Jazz risk winning too many games next season to have a legitimate shot at landing a future star in the 2025 draft; but there are no guarantees they’ll be able to draft that future star even if they do trade him, and going that route would further delay their timeline for contending.
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