- If the NBA and NBPA agree to remove the one-and-done rule for prospects, as has been rumored, there will be one super-sized draft class during the year in which players become draft-eligible out of high school. Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman explores what it might mean for the Thunder, who have loaded up on future picks, if that happens in 2024. Oklahoma City holds its own pick, the Clippers’ pick (unprotected), the Rockets’ pick (top-four protected), and the Jazz’s pick (top-10 protected) in the first round of the ’24 draft.
The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?
We’ll wrap up our series today with the Northwest division…
Denver Nuggets
- 2021/22 record: 48-34
- Over/under for 2022/23: 51.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Minnesota Timberwolves
- 2021/22 record: 46-36
- Over/under for 2022/23: 49.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Portland Trail Blazers
- 2021/22 record: 27-55
- Over/under for 2022/23: 40.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Utah Jazz
- 2021/22 record: 49-33
- Over/under for 2022/23: 25.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Talen Horton-Tucker, Ochai Agbaji, Walker Kessler, Stanley Johnson, Simone Fontecchio, Leandro Bolmaro
- Note: The Jazz are carrying 17 players with guaranteed salaries, so it’s possible not all of these players will make the regular season roster.
- Lost: Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Danuel House, Hassan Whiteside, Juancho Hernangomez, Eric Paschall, Trent Forrest
- Added: Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Talen Horton-Tucker, Ochai Agbaji, Walker Kessler, Stanley Johnson, Simone Fontecchio, Leandro Bolmaro
Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2021/22 record: 24-58
- Over/under for 2022/23: 22.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Jaylin Williams
- Note: Holmgren will miss the 2022/23 season due to a right foot injury.
- Lost: Isaiah Roby
- Note: The Thunder are carrying 18 players with fully or partially guaranteed salaries, so they’ll likely part with three more players from last season’s roster.
- Added: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Jaylin Williams
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (55.5 wins): Under (56.1%)
- Brooklyn Nets (51.5 wins): Under (64.5%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (50.5 wins): Over (76.1%)
- Toronto Raptors (46.5 wins): Over (65.7%)
- New York Knicks (40.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
- Milwaukee Bucks (52.5 wins): Over (75.5%)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (47.5 wins): Over (73.4%)
- Chicago Bulls (44.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Detroit Pistons (28.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
- Indiana Pacers (23.5 wins): Under (62.8%)
- Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
- Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
- Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
- Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
- Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)
- Golden State Warriors (53.5 wins): Over (69.2%)
- Phoenix Suns (53.5 wins): Over (60.2%)
- Los Angeles Clippers (52.5 wins): Over (58.0%)
- Los Angeles Lakers (45.5 wins): Under (66.6%)
- Sacramento Kings (34.5 wins): Over (62.0%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
- Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
- Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
- San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
- Having appeared in just 54 games as a rookie, Thunder guard Josh Giddey has spent a lot of time in the gym and the weight room this summer preparing his body to withstand the rigors of an 82-game schedule, he told Matthew Sullivan of News.com.au. “It’s a long season so taking care of your body is a really important part of being an NBA player,” Giddey said, adding that he feels “ready to go” after missing the end of last season due to a hip issue.
- The Thunder have hired former player DJ White as a video analyst, the team announced on social media (Twitter link). White is the fifth former Thunder player who is now working in the organization. He played 42 games with the team from 2008-11.
Is the NBA ready to move forward on its long-rumored plans to expand to Seattle and Las Vegas? Willie G. Ramirez of The Associated Press (Twitter link) says he has heard from multiple sources that the league wants to announce expansion when those two cities hosts preseason games this fall. The Clippers will play in Seattle on September 30 and October 3, while the Lakers are set to play in Vegas on October 5 and 6.
Despite Ramirez’s report, it’s still probably premature to get excited about an impending announcement. Rumors of possible expansion have simmered off and on for years, and the NBA has repeatedly shot them down, indicating that any plans to add more teams are on the back-burner. Still, it seems increasingly likely that expansion is coming sooner or later, with Seattle and Las Vegas atop the league’s list of potential destinations.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- As rumors about expansion resurface, Evan Sidery of BasketballNews.com considers what an expansion draft might look like if the NBA uses the same rules it did for its last expansion draft (the Bobcats in 2004). Of course, Sidery’s hypothetical expansion draft is based on teams’ current rosters, and any expansion team is unlikely to enter the league for a few years, but it’s still an interesting exercise that shows what kinds of players might go unprotected.
- Following the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell blockbuster trades, the Jazz have the strongest collection of future draft picks of any NBA team, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link), who ranks Utah’s draft assets slightly ahead of the Thunder‘s. The Spurs have the third-best stash of future picks, per Marks. The Pelicans, Rockets, Knicks, Magic, and Pacers round out his top eight, in that order.
- The G League Ignite have officially announced the additions of Australian prospect Mojave King and Canadian prospect Leonard Miller, confirming the signings today in a press release. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony previously reported that King and Miller would be joining the Ignite.
Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.
This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.
We’re wrapping up our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Northwest Division. Let’s dive in…
Denver Nuggets
- Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 15
- Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 3
- Players on two-way contracts: 2
The Nuggets don’t really need to make any roster moves between now and the start of training camp. Their projected 15-man regular season roster looks set, as do their two-way slots — Gillespie suffered a major leg injury, but Denver reportedly intends to hang onto him as he recovers.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 12
- Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 3
- Nathan Knight (partial guarantee), Jaylen Nowell, Austin Rivers (partial guarantee)
- Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 2
- Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 1
- Phillip Wheeler (Exhibit 10)
Knight, Nowell, and Rivers look like pretty safe bets to join the 12 players with guaranteed salaries on the 15-man regular season roster, but that’s not set in stone yet. The partial guarantees owed to Rivers ($650K) and Knight ($350K) are modest enough that the Wolves could theoretically go in a different direction without being on the hook for much money.
Still, a player like Elleby or Garza would probably have to really impress Minnesota in training camp and the preseason in order to make the regular season squad.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 17
- Players on non-guaranteed standard contracts: 1
- Vit Krejci (partial guarantee)
- Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 2
- Sacha Killeya-Jones (Exhibit 10), Jaden Shackelford (Exhibit 10)
With 17 players on guaranteed contracts and Krejci owed a $782K partial guarantee, the Thunder will have to trade or release at least three players on standard deals before opening night. Bazley, Favors, Jerome, Maledon, and Krejci are among those whose roster spots may not be 100% guaranteed quite yet.
Additionally, while Oklahoma City doesn’t have a two-way opening, it wouldn’t be a shock if the team makes a change to one of its two-way slots in the next month and a half. A player in the second year of a two-way contract, like Waters, often has a tenuous hold on his spot if he hasn’t yet proven himself as a rotation player.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 14
- Players on Exhibit 10 contracts: 2
- Players on two-way contracts: 1
- Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 2
- Devontae Cacok (Exhibit 10), Olivier Sarr (Exhibit 10)
Having moved out of luxury tax territory by a hair, the Trail Blazers are unlikely to fill their 15th roster spot, which would put them back in the tax. But they do still have a two-way spot to fill — Miller, Rhoden, Cacok, and Sarr would all be eligible to have their Exhibit 10 contracts converted into two-way deals, so there could be an open competition in camp.
Utah Jazz
- Players on guaranteed standard contracts: 17
- Players on two-way contracts: 2
- Players who have reportedly reached contract agreements: 4
- Paris Bass (Exhibit 10), Kofi Cockburn (Exhibit 10), Darryl Morsell (Exhibit 10), Jeenathan Williams (Exhibit 10)
Having acquired more players than they sent out in the Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Patrick Beverley trades, the Jazz now have a roster logjam to clear. They’ll have to trade or waive at least two more players with guaranteed contracts before the regular season tips off.
It’s hard to say at this point whose roster spots might be in danger, since there are still several trade candidates on Utah’s roster, including Beasley, Bogdanovic, Bolmaro, Clarkson, Conley, Gay, and Johnson. If multiple players from that group are on the move in the coming weeks, the issue may ultimately sort itself out (for instance, trading three players in exchange for Russell Westbrook and draft compensation would quickly clear the excess).
Previously:
Details have emerged on the new contract signed by combo guard Collin Sexton, a key return piece from the Jazz‘s trade of All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), Sexton agreed to a four-year, $70.95MM guaranteed deal as part of a sign-and-trade with the team that drafted him in the 2018 lottery, the Cavaliers.
Marks reveals that Sexton will earn $16.5MM during the 2022/23 season, with 5% salary bumps in each subsequent season, ending in an $18.975MM cap hit in 2025/26. Marks notes that the deal includes $500K in annual unlikely incentives — if all were reached, the 6’1″ guard would earn a total of $72.95MM over four years.
Sexton, still just 23, missed all but 11 games in 2021/22, after which control of the Cavaliers’ offense landed primarily at the feet of eventual 2022 All-Star point guard Darius Garland. In his 11 healthy games, all starts, Sexton averaged 16.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.1 APG and 0.9 SPG.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets that he is skeptical of the Nuggets being able to land any Jazz veterans. Utah appears to be open to trading all of the older players on its roster for future draft picks and younger pieces, having already made four such deals thus far this offseason, including of its two 2022 All-Stars, Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Wind notes that, among Utah’s older players, jump-shooting power forward Bojan Bogdanovic would help Denver the most.
- Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, the reigning two-time NBA MVP, is looking to tear it up overseas in EuroBasket for the Serbian national team, writes Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Jokic, along with fellow All-NBA European stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic, is set to play five group stage games before even getting to elimination rounds.
- Following the Jazz’s aforementioned decision to enact a roster teardown and accrue future assets to kick off a rebuild, it seems likely that the heavily protected 2024 first-round draft pick included as part of last year’s trade of bench big man Derrick Favors from Utah to the Thunder will remain with Utah, writes Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman. The selection is top-1o protected from 2024-25, and then top-eight protected through 2026. If it lands in its protected range for all three years, it would stay with the Jazz and the Thunder wouldn’t get anything.
Mike Brown is among the NBA head coaches who fully endorse having their players take part in international competitions, writes Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Brown is attending the EuroBasket tournament to watch and support two Kings players, Domantas Sabonis of Lithuania and Alex Len of Ukraine.
“There’s nothing better in my opinion than getting yourself ready for an NBA season than playing and practicing at the level that these guys [in the EuroBasket] do,” Brown said. “You know you always worry about injury and that’s a concern of all of ours, but these guys are so passionate about playing for their country that it’s hard to not support them. You want them to do what they’re passionate about because that’s what life is about.”
Stroggylakis notes that the Kings had interest in signing another international player, Sasha Vezenkov, for the upcoming season after acquiring his rights from the Cavaliers on draft night. Brown said the organization invited Vezenkov to visit Sacramento this summer, but he declined due to his commitment to the Bulgarian national team. Vezenkov will play this season for Olympiacos Piraeus in Greece.
“We were hoping he could come out so we’d get to know him a little bit and take a look at him, but he had other commitments this summer, especially with the national team and all this stuff,” Brown said. “We have his rights, so we’ll circle back at him next summer. He’s big and versatile. He can shoot the ball, he’s a veteran, he’s smart. He just knows how to play the game.”
There’s more from EuroBasket:
- Rockets center Alperen Sengun is turning Turkey into a medal contender, per Semih Tuna of Eurohoops. The Turkish team is off to a 2-0 start and appears ready to challenge Spain for the top spot in Group A. “In the NBA we play a lot of games against legendary players,” Sengun said after Saturday’s win over Bulgaria. “We are learning constantly everything. We are learning about that busy schedule too, which I am used to it. Here, we play two back-to-back games and then have a day of rest, so we are ready for this. In the next season, things will be even better for me.”
- Vasilije Micic won’t be coming to the NBA this season, but he’s enjoying the chance to play alongside two-time MVP Nikola Jokic with Serbia, according to a Eurohoops story. The Thunder were willing to trade Micic’s draft rights this summer, but no one offered the first-round pick they were reportedly seeking.
- Former Trail Blazers and Nuggets guard Rudy Fernandez is nearing the career record for games played for the Spanish national team, Eurohoops notes in another piece. The 37-year-old moved into second place Saturday and is now just 13 games behind Juan Carlos Navarro.
- The foot injury that ended Chet Holmgren‘s rookie season before it began probably won’t have a major impact on the Thunder‘s place in the 2022/23 standings, but it will significantly diminish the buzz surrounding the team in Oklahoma City, writes Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman. As Carlson writes, many Thunder fans that had been excited to watch Holmgren play are less likely to follow the club closely this year.
- In a subscriber-only story for Daily Thunder, Josh Haar identifies Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jalen Williams, and Aaron Wiggins as three candidates to earn bigger-than-expected roles for the Thunder with Holmgren sidelined.
Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren underwent successful surgery to address a Lisfranc injury in his right foot, the team announced on Tuesday. As we previously relayed, Holmgren will miss the 2022/23 campaign.
Holmgren, 20, was drafted second overall by Oklahoma City in June. The 7’0″ prospect has intrigued teams with his length and offensive skillset, averaging 14.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in five summer league contests last month.
As Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes, a Lisfranc injury can be related to ligament damage, bone damage or both. Holmgren suffered ligament damage that will sideline him for several months. He joins a long list of high draft picks to miss their rookie seasons, including all-NBA center Joel Embiid and former No. 1 overall selections like Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin.
The Thunder are coming off a 24-58 season and will have to proceed without Holmgren for the time being. The team is still rebuilding, however, so Holmgren’s absence shouldn’t have a major impact on its place in the 2022/23 standings.