Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Blazers Hire Nate Bjorkgren, Chris Fleming As Assistant Coaches

June 24th, 2024 at 2:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have added a pair of assistant coaches to Chauncey Billups‘ staff, confirming today in a press release that they’ve hired Nate Bjorkgren and Chris Fleming. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) first reported that Bjorkgren and Fleming were joining the Blazers.

Bjorkgren, who was the Pacers’ head coach for one season in 2020/21 and also has previous head coaching experience in the G League, was a Raptors assistant from 2018-20 and again from 2021-23 before the club parted ways with Nick Nurse a year ago. Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report noted earlier this month that Bjorkgren was attending some of the Blazers’ pre-draft workouts and speculated that he might join Billups’ staff.

Fleming, meanwhile, became a coaching free agent after the Bulls decided not to retain him beyond the 2023/24 season. He had spent the last five years as an assistant on Chicago’s staff, with previous stints on coaching staffs in Denver and Brooklyn. Like Bjorkgren, Fleming has some previous head coaching experience, though his came exclusively outside of the NBA — he coached Brose Bamberg in Germany from 2008-14 and the German national team from 2014-17.

The Blazers had been on the lookout for experienced assistants after deciding not to renew the contracts of Scott Brooks or Rodney Billups. They also lost Steve Hetzel, who left Portland for a job on Jordi Fernandez‘s new staff in Brooklyn.

There had been some speculation early in the spring that Chauncey Billups might not return as the Blazers’ head coach for 2024/25. That speculation has since died down, but it looks like Billups will have a revamped coaching staff to work with in the fall.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Central Rumors: LaVine, Bulls, Pistons, Cade, Bucks, Cavs, More

June 24th, 2024 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls continue to seek a deal involving Zach LaVine, but last week’s four-year, $78MM contract agreement between the Kings and Malik Monk may have removed a prime suitor from the picture, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who says some rival executives believe retaining Monk will take Sacramento out of talks for LaVine. As Scotto has previously reported, Kings wing Kevin Huerter has fans within Chicago’s front office, so if the two teams did explore a trade involving LaVine, it seems safe to assume Huerter would be involved.

In other Bulls news, Chicago is interested in re-signing center Andre Drummond, league sources tell Scotto. The big man will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the past two seasons backing up Nikola Vucevic.

Scotto also states that – prior to last week’s Alex Caruso/Josh Giddey swap – there was a belief around the league that the Bulls and Thunder would consider a possible sign-and-trade deal involving Patrick Williams. It’s unclear if that idea is off the table now or if the two clubs will look into making a second offseason trade.

Finally, Scotto reports that before they struck deals to add Wes Unseld Jr. and Dan Craig to Billy Donovan‘s coaching staff, the Bulls also reached out and talked to former head coaches Nate McMillan and Dwane Casey.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the Central:

  • The Pistons – along with the Magic – were expected to be in the mix for Monk before he reached an agreement to return to Sacramento, according to Scotto, who says Detroit will continue to explore the trade and free agent markets for shooting help this offseason.
  • Elsewhere on the Pistons front, Scotto writes that a number of executives around the NBA believe Detroit will come to terms on a maximum-salary rookie scale extension for former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham.
  • The Bucks, still very much in win-now mode, are open to the idea of trading the No. 23 pick in the draft, league sources tell Scotto. Executives with rival teams also get the sense that Milwaukee would be willing to move Bobby Portis and/or Pat Connaughton in order to upgrade the roster, though Scotto notes that both players have come up in trade talks in the past and nothing has come of it to this point.
  • James Borrego was considered the frontrunner for the Cavaliers‘ head coaching job last week before the front office met with team owner Dan Gilbert, per Shams Charania, Joe Vardon, and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. After that meeting between management and Gilbert, Kenny Atkinson‘s candidacy “gained considerable momentum,” The Athletic’s trio adds. Assistant coaches Jordan Ott and Trevor Hendry, who worked with Atkinson in Brooklyn, are viewed as potential additions to his new staff in Cleveland, notes Scotto.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Southwest Rumors: Rockets, George, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Sharpe, Doncic

June 24th, 2024 at 12:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets are among the teams with interest in Paul George if he can’t work out an extension with the Clippers this week, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Even though Houston is considered an unlikely destination for George, it’s an indication that the team is engaged in “big game hunting” ahead of the draft and free agency, Scotto adds.

He also hears that Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has been involved in exploratory conversations about dealing the No. 3 pick for a “win-now player upgrade” and possibly moving down in the draft.

For Houston to land George, he would have to exercise his $48.8MM player option for next season and request a trade. The organization has six recent first-round picks on its roster, along with the rights to Brooklyn’s first-rounders over the next three years.

Scotto notes that even if the Rockets don’t acquire George, they have plenty of flexibility for a major move, holding team options on Jeff Green ($8MM) and Jae’Sean Tate ($7.57MM), along with an $8MM non-guaranteed salary for Jock Landale. Houston is expected to hang onto all three of those players through their various option/guarantee deadlines, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), who also reports that the team is open to re-signing free agent guard Aaron Holiday.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • With Jonas Valanciunas considered likely to leave in free agency, the Pelicans are willing to trade the 21st pick in this year’s draft for center help, sources tell Scotto. Along with New Orleans, NBA executives consider the Grizzlies and Thunder to be possible destinations for Hawks center Clint Capela, Scotto adds. If the Pelicans keep their pick, Scotto sees Baylor center Yves Missi as a potential selection, comparing him to Capela as an athletic big man who should thrive in the pick and roll. Scotto also hears that the organization will target another former head coach for Willie Green’s staff if it loses associate head coach James Borrego.
  • The Grizzlies have renewed their interest in Nets backup center Day’Ron Sharpe after holding talks with Brooklyn at the trade deadline, Scotto states. He adds that Memphis considered making an offer for forward Dorian Finney-Smith before the Nets acquired him at the 2023 deadline. In his aggregate mock draft, Scotto suggests the Grizzlies might take Tennessee shooting specialist Dalton Knecht as a potential replacement for Luke Kennard, who has a $14.8MM team option for next season and is considered a possible trade candidate.
  • Mavericks star Luka Doncic has joined the Slovenian national team and plans to participate in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament July 2-7 in Greece, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Dallas Mavericks

June 24th, 2024 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

After winning Kyrie Irving‘s debut on February 8, 2023, the Mavericks had a 30-26 record and held the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Over the next two months, however, Dallas lost 18 of 26 contests to wrap up the 2022/23 season, free-falling down the standings to 11th place and missing out on not just the playoffs but the play-in tournament too.

It was an inauspicious start for the star backcourt duo of Irving and Luka Doncic, who struggled to share the ball effectively in crunch-time situations (10 of those 18 losses down the stretch came by five points or less). Crucially though, on the heels of a turbulent stay in Brooklyn, Irving earned rave reviews for his locker room presence and leadership during his first few months in Dallas, inspiring confidence that with more time to practice and play together, he and Doncic would figure things out on the court.

Buoyed by better chemistry between Doncic and Irving and the addition of rookie center Dereck Lively, whom the Mavericks were able to draft due to their late-season slide in ’22/23 (their first-round pick was top-10 protected), the team once again had a solid first half in ’23/24 and entered trade-deadline day with a 28-23 record. And once again, Dallas had an eventful deadline, acquiring P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in separate deals by sending out two of just three future first-round picks that changed hands league-wide on February 8.

Washington and Gafford certainly didn’t bring the kind of star power to the franchise that Irving had a year earlier, but the two role players also didn’t require the adjustment period that Kyrie had in 2023 — they were perfect fits in Dallas from day one. Instead of slumping down the stretch, the Mavs took off, going on a 22-9 run from deadline day through the regular season finale and moving up in the standings from No. 8 to No. 5.

While the Mavericks didn’t enter the playoffs as favorites to come out of the West, they quickly made it clear that their second-half surge was no fluke, dispatching the No. 4 Clippers in round one, knocking off the top-seeded Thunder in round two, and then making quick work of the favored Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, winning three games in Minnesota en route to a 4-1 series victory.

The Mavericks’ run ended in the NBA Finals against a dominant Celtics team that won 64 regular season games and went 16-3 in the postseason, but Dallas was playing with house money by that point. If you’d told anyone in the organization before the season began that the Mavs would follow up their 38-win dud of a 2022/23 season with an appearance in the NBA Finals a year later, they would’ve taken that outcome in a heartbeat.

The expectations will be higher in Dallas going forward, and after falling short of a championship this spring, the Mavs will have to figure out how to get back to the NBA Finals — and how to put themselves in a better position to win it all once they get there.

Head of basketball operations Nico Harrison has done a good job so far adding complementary pieces around his franchise player (Doncic) and raising the ceiling of this roster, but there are still areas that could use an upgrade. With no cap room this offseason and their collection of future draft picks somewhat depleted, the Mavs may need to get creative to keep getting better.

The Mavericks’ Offseason Plan

In his end-of-season press conference, Harrison expressed confidence that the Mavs’ core doesn’t require any major changes, telling reporters, “If you look at our top seven or eight players that really played. I don’t see anything happening with that.”

Doncic, Irving, and Lively certainly aren’t going anywhere, and it’s safe to assume Washington and Gafford will be back after helping turn the team into a legitimate contender after the trade deadline. After that though, I’m not sure I’d write any names in pen for next year’s roster.

Beyond those five players, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber are the best bets to be back. Green, who signed a three-year rookie scale extension prior to the start of the season, battled some health issues but once again had a solid year, knocking down 38.5% of his three-pointers, handing out a career-high 2.3 assists per game, and providing solid, versatile defense on the wing. Kleber also had an injury-plagued season, appearing in just 43 contests, but continued to be a very useful frontcourt role player when available — he’s not as athletic as Lively or Gafford and won’t show up on many highlight reels, but the German big man is a versatile defender who can hit a three-pointer.

We’ve mentioned seven of Dallas’ eight highest-paid players so far. The one in that group who is least likely to return is Tim Hardaway Jr. The veteran wing, who came over from New York in the Kristaps Porzingis trade in January 2019, is one of the longest-tenured Mavericks, but his 26.8 minutes per game in 2023/24 represented his lowest average since he arrived in Dallas and his .353 3PT% was below his career rate. Hardaway battled an ankle injury in the playoffs and wasn’t used much even when he was healthy, logging just 12.7 MPG in 14 postseason appearances.

Between Hardaway’s declining role and his expiring contract (worth approximately $16.2MM), he’s the team’s most obvious trade candidate entering the summer. Any major deal – whether it’s to acquire another impact player or to create extra cap flexibility – seems almost certain to include the 32-year-old.

The Mavs aren’t loaded with tradable draft assets after having given up their 2027 first-round pick for Washington and their 2029 first-rounder for Irving. But they still have the ability to move both their 2025 and 2031 first-round picks if they make them unprotected (neither one is eligible to be pushed back a year due to the Stepien rule and the seven-year rule). They could also sweeten a potential trade offer by including one or both of Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Jaden Hardy, two youngsters who will be 22 in July and who have flashed upside early in their NBA careers.

It’s certainly possible that Dallas will make an effort to acquire another high-caliber starter together using a package that includes Hardaway, one or both of their remaining first-round picks, and one of both of those prospects. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Mavs look to make a smaller, cost-cutting move that turns Hardaway into a less expensive rotation piece.

For instance, a deal with the Hornets for wing Cody Martin ($8.1MM) would be legal whether or not Charlotte operates under the cap — perhaps Dallas could entice the Hornets to take on that extra salary by attaching a second-round pick or two to Hardaway. That’s just one example. There could be other teams willing to make a similar move, especially since Hardaway is still capable of providing decent rotation minutes.

The thinking here is that the Mavericks probably won’t be in position to re-sign Derrick Jones unless they trim their payroll a little. They project to operate over the tax line and possibly right around the first tax apron, which means that their only options for re-signing Jones are to offer him a Non-Bird raise (20% above his minimum salary) or to give him the full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.18MM). Rival suitors, who would likely be eager to poach the Western champions’ starting small forward and top perimeter defender, would easily be able to top either offer.

However, if Dallas can create a little extra breathing room below the first apron, they’d be able to use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception – potentially as much as the full non-taxpayer mid-level of $12.86MM – to make a more competitive bid for Jones.

Spending more than $5.18MM of the MLE would hard-cap team salary for 2024/25 at the first apron (around $178.7MM), and Dallas already projects to have about $173.7MM counting toward the apron for 12 players, assuming Dante Exum‘s $3.15MM non-guaranteed salary is retained. So swapping out Hardaway for a player making half as much money would put the Mavs in a far better position to re-sign Jones. Veteran Dallas-area reporter Marc Stein has suggested that moving Hardaway is a “key element” of the club’s plan to keep Jones.

While sending out Hardaway in what’s essentially a salary dump would take a key salary-matching piece off the table for the Mavs’ next big trade, the team still has several mid-sized contracts on its books that could be used in such a deal. Kleber, Green, Gafford, and Washington are all earning in the $11-16MM range and are under contract for multiple seasons. Jones could join that group if Dallas is able to free up the non-taxpayer MLE to give him a new contract.

When asked after the Mavs’ season how the team will get better going forward, Harrison spoke about wanting each of his players to improve by “10 to 15 percent.” That suggests to me that he’s willing to be patient and to see how the current group does with a full training camp together rather than going out and immediately taking another big swing this summer. There will be non-Hardaway contracts to use in a bigger trade down the road if the front office eventually determines that’s what’s needed to get Dallas over the hump.

Further down on the offseason to-do list, there are five Mavericks who will be extension-eligible before the season begins, but Hardaway isn’t a candidate for a new deal from Dallas and there should be no rush to extend either Gafford or Kleber, who each have two guaranteed years left on their current contracts.

Hardy is a potential extension candidate, but again, there’s probably not a lot of urgency to get something done right away unless he’s willing to give the Mavs a team-friendly rate — he’ll be extension-eligible all season long, and if he doesn’t get a new deal, the club will have plenty of leverage next summer when he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency.

That leaves Doncic, who is a lock to get a huge new maximum-salary extension from the Mavericks. However, it won’t happen this summer. The superstar guard met the performance criteria for a super-max extension (which will start at 35% of the cap instead of 30%) this spring by making his second consecutive All-NBA team, but he only has six years of NBA service. A player must have seven to sign a super-max extension, so while Doncic is technically eligible to sign an extension this offseason, he won’t be eligible to sign that more lucrative super-max contract until July 2025.

The Mavs would obviously like to get Doncic locked up long-term as soon as possible, but they can at least feel pretty confident that the 25-year-old will be ready and willing to sign on the dotted line in 2025. Following a sub-.500 season in 2022/23, another disappointing result in ’23/24 might have prompted Doncic to question his ability to win in Dallas. This year’s success should assuage any doubts he may have had.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Dante Exum ($3,150,000)
    • Exum’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 29.
  • A.J. Lawson ($2,120,693)
  • Jaden Hardy ($1,619,699)
    • Partial guarantee. Rest of salary noted above; Hardy’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 30.
  • Alex Fudge (two-way)
  • Total: $6,890,392

Dead/Retained Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • None

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 58 overall pick (no cap hold)

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Luka Doncic (veteran)
  • Daniel Gafford (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible as of October 1.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. (veteran)
  • Jaden Hardy (veteran)
  • Maxi Kleber (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible as of September 8.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Mavericks’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Mavericks project to operate over the cap and either at or above the first tax apron. If they move below the first apron, they would gain access to the bi-annual exception ($4,681,000) and the full mid-level exception ($12,859,000) instead of the taxpayer mid-level exception and would regain access to their two trade exceptions (the largest of which is worth $4,953,980 and expires on July 8). If they surpass the second tax apron, they would lose access to the taxpayer MLE.

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,183,000
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Rumors: George, Butler, Anunoby, KCP, LaVine, Maxey

June 24th, 2024 at 11:18am CST by Arthur Hill

A report last week suggested the Sixers‘ interest in acquiring Clippers star Paul George has “waned,” but sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that Philadelphia still has “significant interest” in signing George if he opts for free agency.

George, the number one name on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, has until Saturday to decide whether to exercise his $48.8MM option for next season. If George is unable to reach an extension agreement with L.A. by then, he can either decline the option and test free agency or opt in and demand a trade.

George has long been considered an offseason priority for Philadelphia, which has the ability to create more than $60MM in cap room. The Magic are among the teams that are also expected to pursue George if he reaches the open market.

Sources inform Scotto that a trade for Heat forward Jimmy Butler remains a viable option for the Sixers if they can’t acquire George. Butler spent most of the 2018/19 season in Philadelphia before being traded to Miami and has maintained a strong relationship with Joel Embiid.

Another option, according to Scotto, could be a “short-term, higher market average annual salary” deal with Knicks free agent forward OG Anunoby. Scotto also hears the Sixers may also offer Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a two-year contract similar to what Bruce Brown got last year, with a large salary for next season and a team option for 2025/26.

There’s more on the Sixers, all courtesy of Scotto:

  • Sources tell Scotto that Philadelphia has less interest in trading for Bulls guard Zach LaVine now that Alex Caruso can no longer be part of the deal. Caruso was shipped to Oklahoma City on Friday in a trade for Josh Giddey. The Sixers are reluctant to take on the three years and $138MM left on LaVine’s contract without other assets attached.
  • Tyrese Maxey is considered virtually certain to sign a max extension this summer, but Klutch CEO Rich Paul may want something in return for waiting a year while the team worked to maximize its cap space, Scotto adds. He suggests Paul might ask for a player option on the final year of Maxey’s next contract, along with a 15% trade kicker. 
  • With Buddy Hield possibly departing in free agency, Scotto sees Baylor guard Ja’Kobe Walter as a potential replacement in the draft. He notes that Walter has a 6’10” wingspan and is considered a much better perimeter defender than Hield.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Keita Bates-Diop Exercises Option For 2024/25

June 24th, 2024 at 10:22am CST by Arthur Hill

Nets forward Keita Bates-Diop has picked up his $2.65MM player option for next season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Bates-Diop appeared in just 14 games after being acquired from Phoenix in February in a three-team deal that also included Memphis. He averaged 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 4.9 minutes per night before his season ended in late March when he underwent a procedure for a stress fracture in his right tibia.

The player option was part of a two-year, $5MM deal Bates-Diop signed with the Suns in 2023. The 28-year-old has also spent time with Minnesota, Denver and San Antonio since coming into the league in 2018. He will become an unrestricted free agent next summer, assuming he remains under contract until then.

We’re tracking this year’s player option decisions right here. All of those decisions must be made by June 29.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Troy Weaver To Join Wizards As Senior Advisor

June 24th, 2024 at 7:48am CST by Arthur Hill

Former Pistons general manager Troy Weaver will become a senior advisor with the Wizards, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

As rumored last week, Weaver will reunite with Monumental Sports/Wizards president Michael Winger and GM Will Dawkins, who took over the team last summer. The three executives spent more than a decade together in Oklahoma City’s front office.

Wojnarowski hears that Weaver’s agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, is finalizing a contract to have Weaver in place in time for Wednesday’s draft and the start of free agency this weekend. A team executive tells Woj that Winger and Dawkins consider Weaver to be a “truth teller” who is willing to challenge them regarding difficult decisions.

Weaver is also viewed as an expert on prospect evaluation and player development, according to Wojnarowski, who cites his role in creating the powerful Thunder team built around Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Weaver is a Washington, D.C., native, and Wojnarowski notes that he launched his career as head coach of DC Assault, a successful AAU program. That led to assistant coaching jobs in the college ranks with Pittsburgh, New Mexico and Syracuse and eventually an NBA opportunity as the head scout in Utah.

Weaver and the Pistons parted ways in what was termed a “mutual decision” earlier this month as part of an organizational housecleaning after Trajan Langdon was hired as head of basketball operations. Detroit also dismissed head coach Monty Williams and is still searching for his replacement.

Although he didn’t produce much on-court success during his four years with the Pistons, Weaver assembled a promising collection of young talent. Draft picks during his tenure produced Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Celtics Notes: Horford, Brissett, Holiday, Lundberg

June 23rd, 2024 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Al Horford could have gone out on top, but that’s not on his agenda. The veteran Celtics big man says he wants to keep playing next season and beyond, as he told Jared Weiss of The Athletic (video link).

“I’m coming back. That’s the plan. … I’ll start training in a couple weeks again,” he said.

Horford, 38, has one year left on his contract and will make $9.5MM next season. If all goes well, he might be seeking another contract next offseason.

“I feel good, I want to keep it going,” he said.

We have more Celtics news:

  • Oshae Brissett will reportedly decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving, Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes. The Celtics still have the option to bring back Brissett on a veteran’s minimum deal or with Non-Bird rights. However, Brissett might prefer to find a bigger role in another organization. If he signs elsewhere, Jordan Walsh could move up the depth chart.
  • Mike Guevera, Jrue Holiday‘s longtime performance coach, marvels at how much time and effort Holiday puts into his workouts, “I’ve been doing this for 16 years. In my career, he’s approached the off-court stuff probably more intensely than the on-court stuff better than anybody I’ve worked with across the board in the NFL and the NBA,” Guevera told Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina.
  • Forward Gabriel Lundberg, who played four games for Phoenix in 2021/22, indicated that he turned down an offer from the Celtics, according to Thomas Picture of TV2 Sport. It apparently would have been a training camp invite, rather than a guaranteed contract. “Boston (was) very honest and transparent in their approach to me. I would have become something like the 15th man on the team and really only a training player,” he said. “So nothing with guaranteed playing time or opportunities. It doesn’t work for me anymore.” Lundberg has instead signed a two-year contract with the Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Pistons Notes: Langdon, Offseason, Williams, Draft, Gores

June 23rd, 2024 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said he’s willing to use a chunk of his cap space to take on unwanted contracts from teams looking to shed salary. He’ll look for sweeteners as he tries to build assets during the franchise’s latest rebuild.

“One thing we are looking for with the cap space we do have is bringing in contracts maybe from other teams and gathering assets as well,” Langdon said. “Hopefully, with the players that come in, they can bolster the growth (of the younger players). If we can interweave those two things, that would make our summer successful.”

The Pistons could have more than $60MM in cap space to utilize. However, Langdon isn’t looking for a quick fix, even if the team’s fan base is weary of losing. Detroit hasn’t won a playoff series since 2008.

“I don’t think there’s a timeframe for us to get to the playoffs,” he said.

We have more on the Pistons:

  • Team owner Tom Gores gave the green light to Langdon to dismiss head coach Monty Williams, even though Williams had five years and $65MM remaining on his contract. Gores had no qualms about eating that much money in order for a fresh start. “When you have to adjust, you adjust,” Gores said, per Omari Sankofa II of theDetroit Free Press. “This franchise means everything to me. It’s not like I didn’t think about it for a second, but the right thing has to survive. I think it was the right move for all of us, including for Monty, but it’s not like I didn’t think about it at all. It’s significant. We’ve just always got to do the best thing for the franchise.”
  • The Pistons will be picking fifth in this week’s draft, though Langdon is willing to move that selection if the right offer comes along, Sankofa writes in a separate story. “We like five a lot,” he said. “Obviously we’re going to look to be strategic. If someone comes along and blows us away for that fifth pick, I think we have to understand and analyze what’s the best decision. Do we pick at five, or do we move back? We’re not looking at moving out of the draft, but again, if decisions come and offers come that we think will make us better as an organization going forward, we’re going to have to look at everything. If we stay at five, we’ll find a good player.”
  • Langdon spoke about punctuality during Friday’s press conference, expecting players and employees to be on time and return phone calls and texts promptly. Those words rang hollow to the media, who waited for over an hour after the scheduled start of the press conference due to Gores being stuck in traffic, Shawn Windsor of the Free Press notes. It fed into the notion that Gores is disconnected from the franchise, something he denies. “I know some people think I’m not attached enough to the organization, that I’m detached. But I want to give this organization everything I can,” he said.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves

June 23rd, 2024 at 7:30pm CST by Luke Adams

A year ago at this time, the Timberwolves‘ 2022 trade for Rudy Gobert was widely viewed as an unmitigated disaster and a cautionary tale for teams who were considering the idea of selling the farm for a single player.

That blockbuster deal cost Minnesota three solid rotation pieces (Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, and Jarred Vanderbilt), a young center who had a terrific rookie season with his new team in 2022/23 (Walker Kessler), the 2023 draft pick that became Keyonte George, and four more future draft assets, including two unprotected first-round picks, a top-five protected first-rounder, and an unprotected first-round swap.

In their first season with Gobert, the Timberwolves took a step back, winning just 42 games after posting a 46-36 record in 2021/22, and the three-time Defensive Player of the Year struggled to adapt to his new situation. When the 2023 offseason got underway, there were myriad calls from pundits and fans for Minnesota to break up its frontcourt by trading either Gobert or (more likely) Karl-Anthony Towns.

What a difference a year makes.

Instead of dismantling their core, the Wolves chose to stand relatively pat last summer, betting they’d be just fine with better health from Towns, more acclimation time for Gobert, another year of growth for rising star Anthony Edwards, and the stabilizing influence of 2023 deadline addition Mike Conley. They were right.

The Wolves’ 56-26 record was just one game off the top mark in the Western Conference, and Gobert looked far more comfortable in his second year in Minnesota, as he anchored a unit that posted the NBA’s best defensive rating (108.4) and won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.

After passing their regular season test with flying colors, the Wolves entered the playoffs looking for their first postseason series victory since 2004. Not only did they get it, but they made it look easy, sweeping Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Suns out of round one. For good measure, Minnesota followed up that dominant first-round showing by knocking off the defending champions in round two, eliminating the division-rival Nuggets in a hard-fought seven-game series.

A dream season to that point ended on a sour note, however. Despite entering the Western Conference finals as the higher seed and a heavy favorite against Dallas, Minnesota had no answer for the firepower of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, dropping three games at home to the Mavericks en route to a 4-1 series loss.

While it was a disappointing finish, the season was a major success overall for the Wolves, as Edwards’ ascension to stardom and their dominant defensive play provided reason to believe that more lengthy postseason runs are possible in the coming years. The challenge now will be keeping the core intact as the cost of the roster gets higher and billionaires battle over control of the franchise.

Edwards, Towns, and All-Defensive wing Jaden McDaniels will all get huge raises this summer, pushing team salary over the second tax apron, while longtime owner Glen Taylor and the new prospective ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez head to arbitration in an effort to determine who will ultimately be the club’s majority stakeholder.

This is a roster capable of contending for a title and worth paying a hefty luxury tax bill. But operating over the second apron will restrict the front office’s ability to make additional moves, and not knowing who will be on the hook for those tax bills raises concerns about the sustainability of such a high payroll.

The Timberwolves’ Offseason Plan

Let’s start with the cap situation. Towns, Gobert, and Edwards are now all on maximum-salary contracts that will be worth between $42-50MM in 2024/25, so that trio alone will take up nearly the entire $141MM cap. Throw in McDaniels at $23MM, Naz Reid at $14MM, Conley at $10MM, and this roster gets expensive in a real hurry.

The second apron is projected to be $189.5MM; Minnesota’s nine players on guaranteed contracts are owed a combined $191MM, and that doesn’t account for the cap hit for the team’s first-round pick ($2.55MM) or new contracts for free agents like Kyle Anderson, Monte Morris, and Jordan McLaughlin. If no cost-cutting moves are made, team salary will likely end up north of $200MM, with a luxury tax penalty of at least $75MM, and those are relatively conservative estimates.

There are some teams who wouldn’t bat an eye at those figures, especially for a roster capable of vying for a title. The Clippers reportedly paid $142MM+ in taxes this season for a team that didn’t make the second round of the playoffs; the Warriors were on the hook for $177MM in tax penalties for a club that didn’t even make the playoffs.

But the Wolves under Taylor have never been eager to surpass the luxury tax line, having not paid a tax bill larger than $1MM in two decades. And it’s unclear if Lore and Rodriguez would be big spenders either, given that they’ve repeatedly had to raise capital during the process of buying into the franchise and had reportedly projected a payroll decrease for 2024/25 (though that’s said to be a common practice that doesn’t preclude subsequent revisions).

Towns would be the player to watch if the Wolves decide they need to clean up their cap situation. He’s one of the best frontcourt shooters in NBA history, but he has become a second option on offense due to Edwards’ emergence, and he isn’t a valuable asset on defense — playing him next to Gobert is a challenge in certain matchups, since neither big man is at his best when he’s chasing forwards or wings out on the perimeter.

Towns’ $49.35MM cap hit in 2024/25 will also be the highest for any Minnesota player, and the team has a bench player capable of replacing him in the starting five if necessary — Reid isn’t KAT, but the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year is coming off his best season and is making a fraction of Towns’ salary.

Still, all the reasons that make Towns the most likely odd man out among the team’s highest-paid players would work against the Wolves if they placed him on the trade block. His four-year, maximum-salary contract will be onerous and impractical for many clubs to carry under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and any trade partner would need to be in position to surround him with the right personnel. Plus, the Wolves won’t just be looking to dump Towns’ salary — they’d want to get back quality rotation players who come in at a much lower price point. It’ll be a challenge.

My bet is the Wolves won’t do anything too drastic this summer. We saw a year ago that Tim Connelly and his front office are willing to be patient to give a talented roster time to jell, and for most of the season, the current group worked just fine together. As for ownership, that standoff seems unlikely to be resolved within the next few weeks, and as long as Taylor maintains majority control, I doubt he’ll want to take the PR flack that would ensue if he slashed salary after the team’s best season in 20 years.

If no big moves are in the cards, it could be a pretty quiet summer in Minnesota, with the priority being to build depth beyond a top seven of Edwards, Towns, Gobert, McDaniels, Conley, Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. As a second-apron team, the Wolves won’t have any form of mid-level or bi-annual exception available and won’t be able to aggregate salaries in trades, limiting their options.

Wendell Moore, Leonard Miller, and Josh Minott have contracts for next season (Minott’s salary is non-guaranteed), and I’d expect Miller and Minott to be back, since their cap hits will come in below the two-year veteran’s minimum. But Moore is slightly pricier and has barely played in his first two seasons, so he’s a trade candidate unless the Wolves remain bullish on his upside.

If two of those three youngsters return, that would leave at least five open roster spots for Minnesota to fill. I imagine the team would welcome back Anderson, Morris, and/or McLaughlin if they’re willing to accept minimum-salary deals, but Anderson and Morris, at least, should have stronger offers — McLaughlin might too. The Wolves have the Bird rights necessary to make any of those players competitive offers, but it would cost exponentially more than just the player’s salary, given how far into the tax the club will be.

Minnesota also controls the 27th and 37th picks in this year’s draft, putting the team in position to add a couple more low-cost prospects to the roster. But if Anderson and Morris depart, the front office will likely head to the free agent market on the lookout for at least a couple veterans capable of playing rotation minutes, especially in the backcourt and on the wing. Kyle Lowry, Cameron Payne, Alec Burks, Lonnie Walker, and Justin Holiday are some of the free agents who might be available for the minimum and who could be fits on the Wolves’ roster.

Gobert is the only notable extension candidate to monitor this offseason, as he’ll be eligible to reach free agency as early as next summer if he declines a 2025/26 player option. He’ll remain extension-eligible even after the regular season begins though, so the Wolves shouldn’t feel urgency to get anything done by opening night.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Josh Minott ($2,019,699)
    • Minott’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 28.
  • Jaylen Clark (two-way)
  • Total: $2,019,699

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

  • Luka Garza ($2,368,944 qualifying offer / $2,368,944 cap hold): Bird rights
  • Total (cap holds): $2,368,944

Two-Way Free Agents

Draft Picks

  • No. 27 overall pick ($2,554,200 cap hold)
  • No. 37 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • Total (cap holds): $2,554,200

Extension-Eligible Players

  • Rudy Gobert (veteran)
  • Jordan McLaughlin (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.
  • Josh Minott (veteran)
  • Monte Morris (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible until June 30.

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, these players are eligible for extensions beginning in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Timberwolves’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Timberwolves project to operate over the cap and over the second tax apron. That means they won’t have access to the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception, or their trade exception worth $4MM. If they move below the second apron, they would gain access to the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,183,000). If they operate below both aprons, they could access the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12,859,000), the bi-annual exception ($4,681,0001), and their trade exception.

  • None
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts