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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Memphis Grizzlies

August 24th, 2024 at 5:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Memphis Grizzlies.

Free agent signings

  • Luke Kennard: One year, $9,250,000. Includes $1,387,500 in unlikely incentives. Re-signed using Bird rights after team option was declined.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Cam Spencer (No. 53 pick) from the Pistons in a four-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Ulrich Chomche (No. 57 pick; to Raptors) and the Grizzlies’ 2030 second-round pick (top-50 protected; to Timberwolves).
  • Acquired Mamadi Diakite and the draft rights to Nemanja Dangubic in exchange for Ziaire Williams and the Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick.

Draft picks

  • 1-9: Zach Edey
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $26,202,576).
  • 2-39: Jaylen Wells
    • Signed to four-year, minimum-salary contract ($7,895,796). First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year non-guaranteed team option.
  • 2-53: Cam Spencer
    • Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
  • Carrying approximately $170MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full mid-level, bi-annual exceptions available.
  • Four traded player exceptions available (largest worth $12,600,000).

The offseason so far

It has been a quiet summer in Memphis, where the Grizzlies will bet on the return of a handful of starters and rotation players from injuries to propel them to a bounce-back season in 2024/25. There’s reason to believe that could be a fruitful strategy. After all, this roster is pretty similar to the one that racked up 56 wins in 2021/22 and 51 more in ’22/23.

Injuries to Desmond Bane (he played 42 games last season), Marcus Smart (20 games), Brandon Clarke (six games), Luke Kennard (39 games), Steven Adams (zero games), and especially Ja Morant (nine games) derailed Memphis in 2024/25, but the team will have all of those players back on the court next season, with the exception of Adams, who was sent to Houston ahead of the February trade deadline.

While the Grizzlies didn’t lose any key players this offseason, they still had a hole to fill up front, where they lost Adams and Xavier Tillman during the season. Operating right up against the luxury tax line, Memphis wasn’t in position to add an impact veteran center, but the club used its lottery pick to bring in a potential long-term answer at the position, drafting Zach Edey ninth overall.

Edey is coming off a monster college career at Purdue, where he was named the NCAA’s player of the year in each of the past two seasons. And he showed some promise when he was able to suit up in Summer League last month, averaging 10.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 21.0 minutes per game, though he was limited to just two appearances (one in Salt Lake City and one in Las Vegas) due to ankle issues.

Still, it remains to be seen how the 22-year-old will adjust to the speed and athleticism of the NBA game, especially with opposing offenses looking to lure him away from the rim and out to the perimeter. If Edey’s not ready to take on a substantial role as a rookie, the Grizzlies will otherwise have to rely on non-traditional fives like Jaren Jackson Jr., Santi Aldama, and Clarke.

Edey represents the only major addition of the summer for the Grizzlies, who also re-signed Kennard to a new one-year deal and drafted a couple players in the second round in June — Jaylen Wells will have a spot on the team’s 15-man roster, while Cam Spencer begins his career on a two-way deal.

Of the offseason departures, Ziaire Williams is the most notable. He was drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2021, but never developed into a consistent contributor and was dealt to Brooklyn in a salary dump.

Up next

The Grizzlies currently have 14 players on fully guaranteed contracts, with Mamadi Diakite occupying the 15th roster spot — his $2.27MM salary is partially guaranteed for approximately $1.39MM.

Due to that partial guarantee, the Grizzlies don’t have the ability to waive Diakite and then sign a new 15th man for the veteran’s minimum without surpassing the luxury tax line — unless they cut Diakite within the next week and stretch his partial guarantee across three seasons.

I haven’t gotten the sense that Memphis is especially motivated to bring in a new 15th man, so the team may ultimately stick with Diakite for now. If the Grizzlies need to create a little spending flexibility below the tax line down the road, he could probably be traded relatively easily, perhaps with just some cash attached rather than any future draft assets.

Scotty Pippen Jr., who was impressive down the stretch for Memphis last season, may be the leading candidate to eventually supplant Diakite as the club’s 15th man. For the time being, Pippen is on a two-way deal and there will likely be no real urgency to promote him until he nears his 50-game limit.

The Grizzlies do have a few extension candidates on their roster worth watching, starting with Aldama, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension. After a promising sophomore season in 2022/23, Aldama didn’t take a significant step forward in year three, but if Memphis believes that was just a blip in an otherwise ascendant trajectory, the team could look to lock him up this fall rather than risk having his price tag go up in 2025.

Jackson and Smart are each eligible for a veteran extension this offseason, though both players are also under team control through 2026, so if nothing gets done before the season begins, that’s not a cause for concern. A new deal for Smart seems unlikely, given that he barely played due to health problems during his first year in Memphis.

Jackson is a better bet to be a long-term fixture with the franchise, but if he wants to try to make himself super-max-eligible by winning another Defensive Player of the Year award or earning an All-NBA spot in 2024/25, he’ll wait a year to sign anything. He may wait anyway, since his $23.4MM salary for ’25/26 will make it hard for the Grizzlies to offer him a deal worthy of his on-court value (they’re limited to a 40% raise in year one, with 8% annual raises after that).

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Disabled Player Exception

August 24th, 2024 at 4:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Most salary cap workarounds, such as the mid-level exception, can be used every year — or at least every other year, as in the case of the bi-annual exception. However the disabled player exception is only available under certain circumstances. Like other salary cap exceptions though, the DPE allows a team to sign a player without using cap space.

If a player is seriously injured, his team can apply for the disabled player exception to replace him. In order for the exception to be granted, an NBA-designated physician must determine that the player is “substantially more likely than not” to be sidelined through at least June 15 of that league year.

If granted, the disabled player exception allows a club to sign a replacement player for 50% of the injured player’s salary or for the amount of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, whichever is lesser.

For instance, if a team is granted a disabled player exception this season for a player earning $10MM, the exception would be worth $5MM. But if the injured player is earning $30MM, the DPE would be worth the equivalent of the mid-level exception ($12,822,000 in 2024/25).

A team must formally apply for a disabled player exception and it requires the approval of the NBA. If the league-designated physician determines the player will likely be fully recovered and available before June 15, the team’s request will be denied. That happened last season when the Knicks attempted to secure a disabled player exception for Mitchell Robinson‘s ankle injury. That turned out to be the right call by the league, given that Robinson returned to action in late March.

The cutoff to apply for a DPE each season is January 15. If a team has a player go down with a season-ending injury after that date, it cannot obtain a DPE to replace him. A team must also use the exception by March 10 of the current season or it will expire (this deadline can be pushed back to the next business day if March 10 lands on a weekend).

Unlike mid-level, bi-annual, or trade exceptions, the disabled player exception can only be used on a single player, rather than spread out across multiple players. However, a team can use it in a variety of ways — the DPE can be used to sign a free agent, to claim a player off waivers, or to acquire a player in a trade.

If a team uses its disabled player exception to take on salary in a trade, it can acquire a player making up to 100% of the DPE amount, plus $100K. For example, a $5,000,000 DPE could be used to trade for a player making $5,100,000.

A free agent signed using the DPE can only be offered a rest-of-season deal, while a player acquired via trade or waiver claim using the DPE must be in the final year of his contract. Essentially, the purpose of the exception is to give the team some flexibility to replace an injured player for the rest of the season, but not beyond the current season.

The team must have room on its roster to sign the replacement player — the disabled player exception doesn’t allow the club to carry an extra man beyond the usual limits.

In the event that a team is granted a disabled player exception, uses it to acquire a player, and then has its injured player return ahead of schedule (ie. before the end of the season), the team is allowed to carry both players.

However, if a team has an unused disabled player exception and then trades its injured player, the team would lose the exception. The same is true if the injured player returns to action before the DPE has expired or been used.

Most disabled player exceptions ultimately go unused. For instance, the Nuggets were granted a DPE due to DaRon Holmes‘ season-ending Achilles tear, but because he’s earning just $3,065,640 as a rookie, the exception is worth only $1,532,820, 50% of that amount. It doesn’t hurt for a team to have that tool as its disposal, but it will be difficult for Denver to do much with that.

More sizable disabled player exceptions can come in handy, most frequently in trades, where they can allow sometimes allow a team to generate a new trade exception with an outgoing contract rather than using it to match the incoming salary.

For example, after being granted a $12,405,000 DPE in the wake of Ja Morant‘s season-ending shoulder injury last season, the Grizzlies made a trade with Houston that sent out Steven Adams ($12.6MM) and brought back Victor Oladipo‘s expiring $9.45MM contract. Rather than using Adams’ outgoing salary as a salary-matching piece to acquire Oladipo, Memphis used its DPE to take on Oladipo’s deal, generating a new $12.6MM trade exception for Adams’ salary.

Notably, the Grizzlies had also been granted a separate $6.3MM disabled player exception for Adams after losing the big man to a season-ending knee injury, but they were forced to forfeit that DPE when they traded Adams away.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012, 2017, and 2022.

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2026 NBA Free Agents

August 24th, 2024 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2026 free agents is below. These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2025/26 season. The player’s 2026 age is in parentheses.

Players who are currently free agents or who are on our 2025 free agent list are not seen here. Players who have team or player options for the 2025/26 season aren’t listed below, but will be added to this list eventually if they remain on their current contracts.

Players with team or player options for the 2026/27 season are listed below, unless they’re still on their rookie scale contracts.

This list will be continually updated. You’ll be able to access it anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or in the “Free Agent Lists” section of our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 9-20-24 (7:36pm CT)

Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Restricted Free Agents

Point Guards

  • None

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Player Options

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Team Options

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Two-Way Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

  • None

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

  • None

Centers

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NBA Seeks To Dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery Lawsuit

August 24th, 2024 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 24: Baxter Holmes of ESPN provides more details on the NBA’s motion for a dismissal, writing that the league is arguing Warner Bros. Discovery attempted to improperly rewrite the terms of Amazon’s offer and then accept those terms.

“(Turner Broadcasting System) chose not to match NBCUniversal’s offer, which would have enabled TBS to continue distributing games via its TNT linear cable network,” the league wrote in its filing. “Instead, TBS purported to match the less-expensive Amazon offer, but only after revising it to include traditional distribution rights and making numerous other substantive changes.

“… TBS made substantive revisions to eight of the Amazon offer’s 27 sections (including revisions to 22 different subsections), changed 11 defined terms that are collectively used roughly 100 separate times, struck nearly 300 words, and added over 270 new words, substantially altering the parties’ rights and obligations in the process.

“… Far from accepting each term of Amazon’s offer, TBS’s revisions constituted a counteroffer that the NBA was free to reject.”

The NBA is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, which means it couldn’t be refiled in the future, according to Holmes. More information on the league’s arguments can be found within the full ESPN story.

AUGUST 23: The NBA filed a response to Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court on Friday, according to Brian Steinberg of Variety, who reports that the league has sought to dismiss the suit.

Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of TNT Sports, the NBA’s longtime broadcast partner which didn’t reach an agreement with the league during the latest round of media rights negotiations, losing out to Disney (ESPN/ABC), NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. TNT sought to exercise its matching rights on Amazon’s offer but was rejected by the NBA.

In documents filed on Friday, the league reiterated its belief that WBD/TNT failed to match the terms of Amazon’s offer. According to Steinberg, the NBA specified several ways in which TNT’s offer differed from Amazon’s, including:

  • Amazon’s deal is for distribution via streaming only, whereas WBD’s bid would include games on both the TNT cable network and the Max streaming service.
  • Amazon agreed to establish a rights fee escrow account into which it will “deposit and maintain three seasons of rights fee payments on a rolling basis and from which rights fees would automatically be disbursed to the NBA on the agreed-upon payment schedule.” WBD, meanwhile, offered to provide the league with letters of credit as an alternative form of security and to only make them available if the company “failed to make a rights fee payment on a timely basis.” In other words, Amazon’s proposal provides more certainty that payments will be made on time, without the risk of delays.
  • Amazon has promised to promote NBA games during its widest-reaching sports broadcasts, including Thursday Night Football (NFL). WBD “substituted an obligation to promote the NBA in any major sporting league” distributed on TNT or Max — WBD defines “major sporting league” as including NASCAR and various college sporting events, making it a less valuable commitment than Amazon’s in the NBA’s view, Steinberg explains.

As Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic previously outlined, August 23 was the deadline for the NBA to file its initial response to the lawsuit. Warner Bros. Discovery now has until September 20 to file its opposition, then the league will have until October 2 to respond again.

According to Steinberg, the NBA said in Friday’s filing that it intends to move for dismissal at an October 4 hearing in New York City.

Previous reporting has noted that neither the NBA nor WBD likely wants an extended legal battle in which private conversations could be made public during the discovery process, so a settlement of some sort remains a possibility.

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Key 2024 NBA Preseason Dates, Deadlines

August 24th, 2024 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The most notable dates of the 2024 NBA offseason are behind us now that we’re well clear of the draft and the free agent period. However, there are still a number of dates and deadlines to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months before teams take the court for the 2024/25 regular season.

Here’s the breakdown:

August 29

  • Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2024/25 salaries.

September 24

  • Media day for the Celtics and Nuggets.

September 25

  • Training camps open for the Celtics and Nuggets.

September 30

  • Media day for the other 28 teams.

October 1

  • Training camps open for the other 28 teams.

October 4

  • Preseason begins.

October 12-13

  • Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend for the 2024 class.

October 18

  • Preseason ends.

October 19

  • Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2024/25 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.

October 21

  • Last day of the 2024 offseason.
  • Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (4:00 pm CT). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline.
  • Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (5:00 pm CT).
    [RELATED: Players eligible for rookie scale extensions]
  • Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract (such as Stephen Curry) to an extension. An extension-eligible veteran player on an expiring deal (like Brandon Ingram) can still be extended after October 21.
  • Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals.
  • Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.

October 22

Information from NBA.com and ESPN’s Bobby Marks was used in the creation of this post.

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Nets Notes: Fernandez, Nash, Bogdanovic, Nicholas

August 24th, 2024 at 11:54am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Nets brought in a rookie head coach this offseason in Jordi Fernandez. Fernandez is known for his defensive coaching abilities and player development, but as Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes in a subscriber-only article, he’s planning to increase the offensive tempo for his team.

“I think the main part is playing fast, playing confident,” Jalen Wilson said of Fernandez’s coaching philosophy. “Not being out there settling and not being unsure of anything. But everything at full speed and understanding that you’ve got to attack in everything … whether it’s shooting, dribbling, finding the open teammate, running down the floor sprinting to the corner, those different things.”

The Nets pivoted into a full-fledged rebuild this offseason by moving Mikal Bridges, and they’ll extend minutes to their younger players like Wilson, Noah Clowney, Day’Ron Sharpe, Cam Thomas and more.

“We want to play fast, want to play hard,” Clowney said. “We want to be disruptive. We know we’ve got to be a great defensive team if we want any shot at winning games, and that’s just the reality of it. Nobody’s got to sugarcoat that for us. We understand that.”

We have more from the Nets:

  • Speaking to reporters ahead of Goran Dragic‘s farewell game, former Nets head coach Steve Nash spoke on his Brooklyn experience, per Eurohoops.net. Nash said the opportunity in Brooklyn was a unique situation but that he didn’t see himself on the bench long-term. “Coaching was a great experience, [but] I didn’t want to be a career coach,” Nash said. “I don’t think coaching was about to be my career.“
  • Four months after requiring wrist surgery, Bojan Bogdanovic is set to be a part of an exhibition game on Sept. 5 in Croatia in honor of Drazen Petrovic. Both Bogdanovic and Petrovic played for the Croatian national team and for the Nets. As Net Income of NetsDaily observes, Bogdanovic’s participation in the event is an indication that he’ll be ready to go for training camp this fall.
  • The Nets have hired Drew Nicholas to their scouting department, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Nicholas was the director of scouting for the Nuggets over the past two years.
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And-Ones: Sumner, Ingram, Under-Scrutinized Moves

August 24th, 2024 at 10:23am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former NBA guard Edmond Sumner signed a contract with the Sichuan Blue Whales in China, agent Misko Raznatovic announced (via Twitter). Sumner was the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 draft.

Sumner played five seasons in the NBA, most recently with the Nets in 2022/23. He spent the first four years of his career with the Pacers, averaging 7.5 points per game in ’20/21, his best statistical season. He started in 24 of his 53 appearances that year and looked like a potential long-term fixture with the team.

Unfortunately, Sumner suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out of the entire ’21/22 season. He signed a contract with Brooklyn in the 2022 offseason, averaging 7.1 PPG in 53 games (12 starts). However, he didn’t wind up with the team beyond that and played last season in Lithuania.

In all, Sumner holds NBA averages of 6.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 161 career regular season games (41 starts).

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The market for Brandon Ingram has stalled this offseason as the Pelicans determine whether an extension is viable or whether there’s a trade that makes sense. Attempting to find a solution for the Ingram situation, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a three-team trade involving the Pelicans, Nets and Jazz. In this hypothetical scenario, the Jazz would get Ingram and Day’Ron Sharpe, New Orleans would receive Cameron Johnson and Walker Kessler, and the Nets would acquire John Collins, Brice Sensabaugh and a 2025 first-round pick (the more favorable of Cleveland’s and Minnesota’s picks, from Utah). Pincus reasons that while acquiring Ingram could endanger Utah’s chances at landing a top selection in the draft, he would provide a young running mate on the wing for Lauri Markkanen. Pincus opines that the deal makes sense for the Pelicans because they add shooting and size while the Nets would receive a young prospect and a first-round pick.
  • After previously breaking down some offseason moves that flew under the radar, John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a look at some of this summer’s transactions that carry more risk. Hollinger writes that Andrew Nembhard‘s contract worries him, because the Pacers already had him under contract for two more seasons at about $2MM per year. This new contract wipes away the second year, meaning he’s getting $57MM in new money over the following two seasons. Hollinger also expresses concerns with multiple various rookie max extensions, Immanuel Quickley‘s contract with the Raptors, Max Christie‘s deal with the Lakers and Patrick Williams‘ long-term agreement with the Bulls.
  • In case you missed it, Goran Dragic‘s farewell retirement game is streaming on the NBA App at 2 p.m. Eastern. Current and former stars like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Steve Nash, and Dirk Nowitzki will be participating.
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Southeast Notes: Magic, Adebayo, Ware, Lambert

August 24th, 2024 at 8:28am CST by Tristan Tucker

After tearing down the iteration of the team that featured the likes of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, the Magic are finally moving toward where they want to be in the league’s hierarchy, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes. Headlined by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the Magic made the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. And while they didn’t necessarily go all-in this summer, they added an NBA champion and top-tier role player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Banchero asserted recently that the Magic belong in the conversation about the East’s best teams. Assuming he, Wagner, Suggs and others continue to progress in linear fashion, that might be true. As Smith observes, the Magic don’t have a single untradable contract.

On the flip side of things, Orlando is still very young and added 2024 first-rounder Tristan Da Silva to a group of deep-bench reserves that also features Anthony Black and Jett Howard. While they aren’t necessarily on a two-timeline approach since their stars are all in their early 20s, the Magic continue to have intriguing upside for growth beyond their biggest names.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Heat‘s selection of center Kel’el Ware in this year’s draft could put the team in position to play Bam Adebayo at the power forward position more often. However, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel believes that Adebayo won’t push for such a move and would be content with any opportunity to simply expand his game. Adebayo shot 35.7% on 42 three-point attempts last season and could increase that volume this season.
  • In a separate, subscriber-only story, Winderman ponders whether Ware is ready for – or deserving of – regular minutes as a rookie. The No. 15 overall pick averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in Summer League, but ultimately Miami will decide when he’s ready for responsibility at the NBA level. In my view, the Heat have done an excellent job in assessing which rookies have been ready to contribute right away. For example, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez quickly established themselves as rotation pieces despite varying levels of college experience. On the other hand, the club took a more patient approach to Nikola Jovic‘s insertion into the lineup while he fleshed out his defensive game.
  • The Hornets are hiring Ryan Lambert as their director of amateur scouting, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lambert was previously with the Thunder since 2012, working his way up to a senior amateur evaluation scout position last season.
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Pelicans Waive Matt Ryan

August 23rd, 2024 at 9:03pm CST by Rory Maher

9:03pm: The Pelicans officially waived Ryan on Friday, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

1:19pm: The Pelicans plan to waive sharpshooter Matt Ryan, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Ryan, 27, appeared in 28 games for New Orleans in 2023/24, averaging 5.4 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from three-point range in 13.9 minutes per contest. He missed several weeks of action last season due to a right calf strain and a right elbow injury, which required surgery in December.

New Orleans claimed Ryan off waivers last October, inheriting the two-way contract he signed with Minnesota shortly before the start of training camp. He also had brief stints with the Celtics and Lakers earlier in his career.

The Pelicans converted Ryan to a standard contract at the very end of last season, making him playoff-eligible. However, his three-year deal — which featured a significant end-of-season payday in ’23/24 — was non-guaranteed for the ’24/25 and ’25/26 seasons. That means the Pels won’t carry a dead-money cap hit by cutting Ryan loose.

Ryan’s salary for ’24/25 would have become guaranteed if he had remained under contract through the start of the regular season.

After officially signing Javonte Green, the Pelicans had 15 players on standard contracts, with 13 players on guaranteed salaries. They’re back down to 14 players now, with Jose Alvarado holding the lone non-guaranteed deal.

The Pelicans are still about $1.6MM over the luxury tax line after releasing Ryan, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks, with a tax distribution to non-taxpaying teams projected to be a record high of $18.2MM. 13 teams are presently over the tax threshold, Marks adds.

If Ryan clears waivers in a couple days, he will become an unrestricted free agent. As a three-year veteran, he remains eligible for a two-way contract covering one season.

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And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer

August 23rd, 2024 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.

Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.

The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.

The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
  • Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
  • Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.
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