And-Ones: SLAM, 40 Under 40, Howard, Foster

SLAM founder Dennis Page and his now 30-year-old magazine earned the Curt Gowdy Transformative Media Award as part of the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year, reports Jason Jones of The Athletic.

The magazine was a major cultural force in the 1990s, and supplied a fresh, unique voice in the basketball media space. SLAM has sold over 300 million copies across its three decades of life thus far.

“We were really on the outside of the party looking in, and we just told people the party sucked,” Tony Gervino, the publication’s first editor-in-chief, said. “That’s why we were on the outside. We got into it, then we sort of roughed it up a bit.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • An exciting youth movement is afoot in the NBA. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic lists 40 contemporary coaches, front office executives, managers, and influencers who are under 40 years old and are among the most important or influential figures in the game.
  • A sexual assault lawsuit filed in Georgia against former eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard was dismissed by accuser Stephen Harper, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Harper received no money to relinquish the suit, Howard’s lawyer Justin Bailey told Holmes. The suit stemmed from a 2021 encounter, which Howard maintained was consensual.
  • Former Sixers and G League power forward Michael Foster Jr., now playing for Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico, will suit up for the G League United in a pair of exhibition matches against Serbian club Mega Basket next month, the G League has announced (via Twitter).

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Theis, Marshall, Mavericks

The Pelicans are set to hold a voluntary mini-camp ahead of the official start of their team training camp, reports Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). New Orleans is expected to have all but one member of its roster present at the mini-camp, which will take place next week in California.

The club is looking to build on its postseason success last year. New Orleans finished with a 49-33 record, its best finish since 2008/09. The team fell in its first play-in tournament game to the Lakers, but managed to survive the Kings and secure the West’s No. 8 seed. The Pelicans were quickly swept out of the playoffs by the No. 1-seeded Thunder.

Team president David Griffin wasn’t going to take the defeat lying down. He traded to acquire former All-Star combo guard Dejounte Murray from the Hawks, and is hoping New Orleans can bolster its backcourt defense. The Pelicans lost starting center Jonas Valanciunas to free agency, and questions remain about the fate of star forward Brandon Ingram. Ingram’s fit alongside All-Star forward Zion Williamson has long been in question. Ingram has yet to work out a contract extension with New Orleans this summer.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

  • Newly-signed Pelicans center Daniel Theis isn’t expected to join his teammates in California for the team’s voluntary mini-camp, tweets Guillory. The 6’8″ big man inked a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal to join New Orleans this summer. Across 60 games for the Pacers and Clippers in 2023/24, Theis posted averages of 6.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.9 blocks per night, with a shooting line of .532/.366/.760.
  • In a mailbag, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News reflected on how new addition Naji Marshall may be able to offset the free agency departure of starting swingman Derrick Jones Jr., noting that Marshall is a stronger long-range shooter and a solid passer, but not quite as good a defender or lob target.
  • Elsewhere in the mailbag, Curtis says he sees the Mavericks’ three major roster acquisitions as overall improvements over role players Jones, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Josh Green. Beyond Marshall, Dallas added former Warriors All-Star wing Klay Thompson via sign-and-trade and obtained guard Quentin Grimes.

Javonte Green Signs With Pelicans

AUGUST 22: Green’s addition is now official, the Pelicans have announced (Twitter link).


AUGUST 20: The Pelicans are signing free agent Javonte Green, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 6’4″ wing with power forward versatility closed last season with the Bulls.

According to Charania, the deal is for one year. William Guillory of The Athletic adds that it will be a guaranteed minimum-salary contract (Twitter link). Since Green has five years of NBA service, his deal will pay him $2,425,403 while counting for $2,087,519 against the cap.

Green went undrafted in 2015 but caught on with the Celtics ahead of the 2019/20 season. He spent one-and-a-half years with Boston before being traded to the Bulls.

The Radford product was a key part of the 2021/22 Bulls, averaging 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 65 games (45 starts). He wasn’t re-signed by the team after his contract expired in 2023 but he eventually caught back on with the organization last season when he signed a pair of deals with the Bulls to close out the year.

In his nine games last season, Green averaged a career-high 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds. In 195 career games, he holds averages of 5.4 points and 3.1 boards while shooting a .541/.345/.754 line.

Once Green’s deal is official, the Pelicans will have a full 15-man roster of standard contract players, with 13 guaranteed salaries. All three of their two-way spots are also occupied.

With Jonas Valanciunas out of the fold, New Orleans added several bigs to their bench in Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic and Daniel Theis. While Green doesn’t have the same size as those players, he provides another strong rebounding presence (6.8 rebounds per 36 minutes).

Cavaliers Founder Nick Mileti Passes Away At Age 93

Cavaliers founder Nick Mileti passed away on Wednesday at the age of 93, the team announced in a press release.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are saddened to learn of the passing of Nick Mileti, the beloved founder whose passion and vision ignited the spirit of Cavaliers basketball in our great city,” the club said in a statement. “A true pioneer in the world of sports, Nick was not just a leader; he was a dreamer who transformed that dream into reality for countless fans in Cleveland.

Inducted into the inaugural class of the Cavaliers Wall of Honor in 2019, Nick’s legacy is forever etched in the history of our franchise. His journey began as a Cleveland-area lawyer, and in 1968, he took a bold step by purchasing the Cleveland Arena. Just two years later, he led a dedicated group that brought the Cavaliers to life, introducing our team to the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970.

Nick had a grand vision for the future of basketball in Cleveland, culminating in the construction of the Richfield Coliseum, which opened its doors in 1974 as the largest arena in the NBA. For 20 unforgettable years, the Coliseum was home to the Cavaliers, a place where memories were made, and dreams were realized.”

According to ESPN, Mileti remained a part of the Cavs’ ownership group until 1980. He also owned Cleveland’s MLB franchise, the Guardians (then known as the Indians), in the the 1970s.

We at Hoops Rumors send our condolences to Mileti’s family and friends.

Suns Notes: Booker, Little, Durant

He didn’t garner as much media attention as some of his teammates, but Devin Booker‘s excellent all-around play for Team USA at the Olympics is a useful point of reference for how the Suns could utilize him in 2024/25, writes Seerat Sohi of The Ringer.

As Sohi details, Booker was frequently utilized in an off-ball role early in his career, before the arrival of Chris Paul. While the 27-year-old developed as a play-maker during his time with Paul and the team found plenty of success — including making the NBA Finals in 2021 — the team’s offense became increasingly heliocentric. That trend continued in 2023/24 after Paul’s departure, with Booker often playing point guard.

With free agent addition Tyus Jones expected to start at point guard and orchestrate the offense, Booker’s off-ball play will be crucial if the team hopes to make the most of its collective talent, according to Sohi, who says playing off the ball more often could help the 27-year-old defensively as well.

Here’s more on the Suns:

  • Aside from the financial component, the Suns are waiving Nassir Little because he was unlikely to crack their rotation this season, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Phoenix will use the stretch provision on Little’s contract, reducing his cap hit over the next three seasons while instead paying him about $3.1MM annually over the next seven years. By releasing Little and fellow forward E.J. Liddell, the Suns will only have 14 players on guaranteed contracts, giving them more roster flexibility heading into the season, Bourguet notes.
  • Will star forward Kevin Durant return to Team USA for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles? That’s obviously too many years away for a definitive answer, but Durant fueled speculation by writing “see yall (sic) in LA” on Twitter. The 14-time All-Star will be nearing his 40th birthday by the time the 2028 Olympic Games roll around.

Nuggets Notes: Murray, Kroenke, Roster, Caldwell-Pope

Injuries were a significant factor in Jamal Murray‘s struggles in the 2024 postseason and during the Olympics in Paris this summer, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said on Wednesday, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.

When you’re going against the best in the world, whether it’s in the NBA playoffs or in the Olympics, you’re gonna get (opponents’) best shot And if you’re not 100% and you know you want to be out there still, you’re gonna try to fight through it like Jamal is,” Kroenke said after participating in the Gardner Hendrick Pro-Am, part of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club.

But I know he wasn’t 100%. I know getting him back there is a big step toward seeing the Jamal who was throwing up triple-doubles in the NBA Finals.”

As Durando writes, the Canadian guard was visibly slowed by a left calf strain during Denver’s second-round playoff loss to Minnesota. Kroenke said Murray has also been battling an ankle issue in addition to other ailments, though he didn’t specify when that particular injury occurred.

A report in late June indicated that the Nuggets and Murray were nearing an agreement on a four-year, $208.45MM maximum extension, but a deal has yet to be finalized. While Kroenke declined to go into specifics on when a contract might come to fruition, he remains confident in Murray’s abilities, Durando adds.

Jamal’s a great player, one of the best in the NBA,” Kroenke said, “and however he felt personally that the Olympics were for him, just reading some of his quotes, I know he was frustrated a little bit. So I have no doubt that he’ll use that the right way for motivation going into the season.”

Here’s more on the Nuggets, courtesy of Durando (Twitter links):

  • According to Kroenke, Denver’s roster is “pretty set” for the 2024/25 season, though he acknowledged things can change quickly in the NBA. “Our eyes and ears are always open,” he said. “The new (CBA) rules are interesting, and how some of those trades work once you’re over the tax.” The Nuggets’ roster, which is currently at the offseason limit of 21 players, includes 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, with all three of the team’s two-way slots filled.
  • The Nuggets’ president also touched on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s free agency, Durando notes. A key three-and-D player for Denver the past two seasons, Caldwell-Pope signed a three-year, $66MM deal with Orlando after declining his ’24/25 player option. Kroenke said that while the Nuggets made the veteran wing some offers, they were also leery of the second apron restrictions in the new CBA, emphasizing that maintaining the “flexibility to retain the guys we want to keep” in the future was a key factor in contract talks. Kroenke also expressed confidence in the team’s young players and their ability to take on expanded roles.
  • In case you missed it, the Nuggets are rumored to be interested in Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, one of Nikola Jokic‘s teammates on the Serbian national team. Serbia won the bronze medal at the Olympics.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Stretch Provision

For NBA teams looking to open up cap room, simply waiving a player isn’t as effective as it is in the NFL, where salaries are often non-guaranteed and most or all of a player’s cap charge can frequently be wiped from a team’s books. Still, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement does feature a rule that allows teams to spread a player’s cap hit over multiple seasons. This is called the stretch provision.

The stretch provision ensures that any player waived with more than $500K in guaranteed salary remaining on his contract will have the payment schedule of that money spread across multiple years. That schedule is determined as follows:

  • If a player clears waivers between the start of the league year and August 31, his remaining salary is paid over twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one.
    • Note: A player must be waived by August 29 at 4:00 pm Central time in order to clear waivers on August 31.
  • If a player clears waivers between September 1 and the end of his league year, his current-year salary is paid on its normal schedule, with any subsequent years spread over twice the number of remaining years, plus one.
  • If a player in the final year of his contract clears waivers after September 1, the stretch provision does not apply.

While the new payment schedule for a waived player is non-negotiable, teams get to decide whether or not to apply the stretch provision to that player’s cap charges as well. A team can stick to the original schedule for cap hit purposes, if it so chooses.

Word broke on Wednesday that the Suns are waiving and stretching Nassir Little, providing a useful real-life example for how the stretch provision functions. Little’s cap hits prior to his release are $6.75MM in 2024/25, $7.25MM in ’25/26, and $7.75MM in ’26/27.

Here’s what that contract would look like if it were waived without applying the stretch provision to the cap hits; if it were stretched before August 31; or if it were stretched after August 31:

Year Waived without stretching
Stretched by 8/31/24
Stretched after 8/31/24
2024/25 $6,750,000 $3,107,143 $6,750,000
2025/26 $7,250,000 $3,107,143 $3,000,000
2026/27 $7,750,000 $3,107,143 $3,000,000
2027/28 $3,107,143 $3,000,000
2028/29 $3,107,143 $3,000,000
2029/30 $3,107,143 $3,000,000
2030/31 $3,107,143

As this chart shows, it typically makes sense to waive and stretch a player’s contract in July or August if the team is looking to generate immediate cap flexibility for the current season and isn’t as concerned about the impact in future seasons.

By waiving and stretching Little now, the Suns will trim over $3.6MM from their 2024/25 cap, generating significant short-term savings in projected luxury tax penalties, since they’re operating so far into tax territory. However, Little will remain on their books through 2031 instead of 2027.

Phoenix is utilizing the stretch provision in order to create salary and tax savings. In other cases, stretching one or more players can allow a team to duck below the luxury tax line or to create additional cap room.

Back in the summer of 2022, for example, the Trail Blazers waived and stretched Eric Bledsoe and Didi Louzada, which allowed them to sneak below the tax line. The Pacers, meanwhile, waived and stretched Nik Stauskas, Juwan Morgan, and Malik Fitts in order to carve out a little extra cap room in order to sign Deandre Ayton to a maximum-salary offer sheet.

If a club waiving a guaranteed contract in July or August isn’t seeking immediate cap relief, it generally makes more sense to apply the player’s full current salary to the current salary-cap year, rather than stretching it.

The Hornets took that route when they waived Davis Bertans in July, applying his remaining $5.25MM in guaranteed money entirely to the 2024/25 cap. If they’d stretched it, they could’ve carried $1.75MM for each of the next three seasons, creating an extra $3.5MM in cap room this summer, but they had no immediate use for that cap room and decided it’d be better to clear Bertans from their books in one year, rather than in three years.

There are a few more key rules related to the stretch provision worth noting.

Buyouts:

While the stretch provision regulates when money is paid out, it doesn’t prevent teams and players from negotiating a reduced salary as part of a buyout agreement.

For instance, let’s say a player who has an $18MM expiring contract for 2024/25 agrees in August to give up $3MM in a buyout. As a result of that buyout agreement, his team could stretch his remaining salary and end up with cap hits of $5MM for three seasons (through ’26/27) rather than $6MM.

Non-guaranteed money/years:

Non-guaranteed money isn’t subject to the stretch provision, since a team isn’t obligated to pay the non-guaranteed portion of a contract once it waives a player. However, non-guaranteed years (not counting team options) are taking into account when determining how many years the contract is spread across.

This rule can come in handy when a club decides to waive a player who has one or two non-guaranteed years tacked onto the end of his contract. When the Blazers waived Louzada in August of 2022, he had three years left on his deal, but only his 2022/23 salary of $1,876,222 was guaranteed — the $4,023,212 owed to him for the two seasons beyond that one was fully non-guaranteed.

That means that when they waived Louzada, the Blazers only owed him just $1,876,222 but were able to stretch that figure across seven seasons (twice the three years remaining on his contract, plus one). As a result, Portland is carrying tiny $268,032 cap charges for Louzada on its books through the 2028/29 season.

The stretch limit:

A team isn’t permitted to stretch a player’s salary if the portion of the team’s salary made up of waived players projects to exceed 15% of the salary cap in any future seasons.

For instance, with a $154,647,000 salary cap projected for 2025/26, a team carrying $24MM in dead money for that season wouldn’t have been permitted to use the stretch provision while waiving a player on an expiring contract prior to August 31, 2024. This rule doesn’t come into play often, since it’s extremely rare for a team to carry that much dead money on its books for a future season.

The delayed stretch:

Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, if a team waives a player with multiple years of guaranteed money left on his contract and doesn’t utilize the stretch provision at the time of his initial release, the team could still choose to deploy the stretch provision on the contract in a future season.

For instance, when the Cavaliers bought out Ricky Rubio in January 2024, they initially took on cap hits of $3,722,327 for 2023/24 and $1,274,015 for ’24/25, opting not to use the stretch provision. However, prior to the August 31, 2024 deadline, the Cavs decided to stretch the final-year salary owed to Rubio, turning that $1,274,015 into three annual cap hits of $424,672, running through the ’26/27 season.

Rubio’s contract just had two years left on it at the time of his release, but if it had covered, say, four seasons, the Cavaliers could have made the decision to stretch his leftover salary at any time until August 31, 2026.

A contract can only be stretched once, so after stretching JaVale McGee‘s remaining salary across five seasons in 2023, the Mavericks wouldn’t be permitted to “re-stretch” it in a future season.

This delayed stretch rule only applies to contracts that have been terminated since the start of the 2023/24 league year.

Re-signing a stretched player:

Finally, it’s important to clarify that when a team applies the stretch provision to a player’s cap hits, that team becomes ineligible to re-sign the player for the original remaining term of his contract.

For example, after they stretch Little’s contract, the Suns won’t be able to re-sign him until July 2027, which is when his contract originally would’ve expired. That restriction doesn’t apply when a team waives a player and doesn’t stretch his remaining guaranteed salary.

If a team waives a player without stretching his remaining salary, then re-signs or reacquires him before his original contract would have expired, that team isn’t permitted to use the stretch provision on his new deal.


Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will 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 version of this post were published in 2013, 2017, and 2023.

Southwest Notes: Ingram, Spurs, Mavericks

The Brandon Ingram situation will be a fascinating one to watch this season if he and the Pelicans don’t work out an extension before the regular season begins, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

Clark believes New Orleans would have liked to move Ingram in a trade for a starting center this offseason, but couldn’t find a deal that made sense, with targets like Jarrett Allen and Nic Claxton signing long-term deals with their respective teams and Orlando deciding to hang onto Wendell Carter.

While Ingram is a virtual lock to start for the Pelicans as long as he’s on the roster, there will be several starting-caliber players vying for minutes in late-game situations, Clark notes. Dejounte Murray, Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy will all be in that mix, and if New Orleans wants to use a traditional center in certain matchups, Daniel Theis figures to join them.

As Clark points out, Ingram was frustrated when he was benched during the fourth quarter this past spring in the Pelicans’ play-in loss to the Lakers, so it could be awkward if that situation repeats itself in the coming season, with the team asking the former All-Star to sacrifice while he’s playing for his next contract. Ingram could become a more indispensable part of the team’s closing lineups if he’s willing to be a floor spacer and shoot more three-pointers, Clark adds.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • Given the strength of the Western Conference and the fact that they only won 22 games last season, the Spurs may not be quite ready to enter the play-in mix in 2024/25, opines Kelly Iko of The Athletic. While Victor Wembanyama figures to take another step forward and the veteran additions of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes will help, Iko stresses that San Antonio is committed to a patient roster-building approach and could still be the worst team in a strong Southwest Division next season.
  • Iko ranks the Pelicans ahead of the Mavericks in his early projection of the division’s standings, but he believes Dallas had the slightly better offseason overall and lauds the team for improving its outside shooting by adding Klay Thompson and Quentin Grimes, among others. Iko’s mailbag also explores the Rockets‘ projected win total, Zach Edey‘s potential impact on the Grizzlies, and a few more topics from around the Southwest.
  • Grant Afseth of NBAAnalysis.net takes an in-depth look at the Mavericks‘ offseason moves, exploring how Thompson will be deployed, who will replace Derrick Jones as the team’s go-to on-ball defender, and whether Spencer Dinwiddie is in position to replicate his past success in Dallas. Afseth also discusses the ongoing evolution of the Kyrie Irving/Luka Doncic backcourt duo and Dereck Lively‘s continued development.

NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Los Angeles Lakers

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 Los Angeles Lakers.


Free agent signings

  • LeBron James: Two years, $101,355,998. Second-year player option. Includes no-trade clause and 15% trade kicker. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Max Christie: Four years, $32,000,000. Fourth-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Kylor Kelley: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Quincy Olivari: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • None

Draft picks

  • 1-17: Dalton Knecht
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $18,483,219).
  • 2-55: Bronny James
    • Signed to four-year, minimum-salary contract ($7,895,796). First two years guaranteed. Third year partially guaranteed ($1,258,873). Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and between the first tax apron ($178.1MM) and second tax apron ($188.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $188.2MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.2MM) available, but can’t be used due to proximity to second apron.

The offseason so far

Lakers forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis have repeatedly shown, most recently at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, that they remain capable of performing at a superstar level and anchoring a contending team. But the Lakers’ front office wasn’t able to do much this summer to further fortify the supporting cast around James and Davis.

The Lakers’ cap limitations were a factor in the team’s relative inactivity. After re-signing James to a new two-year deal a little below the max and locking up restricted free agent Max Christie to a four-year, $32MM contract, the team’s salary is hovering just below the second tax apron. That means Los Angeles can’t offer more than the veteran’s minimum to any outside free agents.

The Lakers explored potential upgrades on the trade market, but they don’t really have the assets necessary to make any significant upgrades via that route either.

The team has reportedly been unwilling to seriously consider moving Austin Reaves, the best trade chip on the roster outside of James and Davis. Most of the other vets – Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and a series of minimum-salary players (Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes, and Cam Reddish) – have neutral trade value at best, and L.A. can’t take back more salary than it sends out.

Ultimately, the Lakers appear likely to enter the 2024/25 season with a relatively similar roster to the one that finished the ’23/24 campaign. They’ll bet on internal improvement and will hope to get some contributions from their newly drafted rookies.

Christie’s new $32MM deal may have surprised some, but it could turn out to be a bargain if the 2022 second-round pick continues to develop into a reliable rotation piece. He’s a 37.8% career three-point shooter (in a limited sample) and has the tools to be a good defender. Jalen Hood-Schifino is another candidate to take a step forward following an underwhelming rookie year, though he doesn’t look quite as ready for an increased role as Christie.

As for the rookies, Bronny James got way more press this summer than first-round pick Dalton Knecht, and that trend figures to continue into the fall as Bronny and LeBron become the first father-son duo to suit up alongside one another in an NBA game. But it’s Knecht who is more likely to make an immediate impact for the Lakers.

The former Tennessee standout is a talented three-point shooter whose ability to spread the floor should be of immediate use to a team that ranked 24th last season in made three-pointers. Knecht’s strong Las Vegas Summer League showing (21.3 PPG, .391 3PT%) generated optimism that his adjustment to the NBA could be a relatively quick one — especially since, at age 23, he’s two years older than Christie and Hood-Schifino.

The most notable new addition the Lakers made this summer may actually have been on the sidelines rather than on the roster. The team parted ways with head coach Darvin Ham and replaced him with first-timer J.J. Redick, following a lengthy search that included a very public flirtation with UConn’s Dan Hurley.

While Redick’s ability to think creatively about the game shone through in his work as an analyst and podcaster, he doesn’t have any coaching experience at the NBA level, so hiring him to lead one of the league’s marquee franchises in one of the country’s largest markets is certainly a big swing. The Lakers reportedly envision Redick as a coach with elite upside who has the potential to stick in the job long-term, but he’ll find himself under the microscope early and often if L.A. doesn’t get off to a strong start this fall.


Up next

With 15 players on guaranteed contracts and three on two-way deals, the Lakers’ roster looks ready for the regular season. I imagine they’ll continue to keep an eye out for possible trades, but those are more likely to materialize during the season than before it.

Literally every player on the Lakers’ roster has signed a new contract since July 2023, so no one will be eligible for an extension ahead of opening night this fall. That means, barring some action on the trade market, the Lakers’ fall could end up being just as quiet from a transaction perspective as their summer has been.

International Notes: Jones, Garuba, Tillie

Carlik Jones has had two terrific summers in a row while playing for South Sudan’s national team. He had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against the United States in an Olympic tune-up this summer, becoming the first player to ever record a triple-double versus the U.S. Olympic team.

Due to his stellar play, Jones was considered a candidate for an NBA roster spot. He previously spent parts of two seasons in the league, appearing in 12 total regular season games. However, Jones will instead play in the EuroLeague for the first time in his career.

According to a report from Eurohoops.net, Jones did in fact receive NBA interest from teams this offseason.

There were a few offers from the NBA, but not as many as reported,” Jones said. “Many people were worried and nervous, but you shouldn’t believe everything that is written. It’s true that I received some offers, but I knew from the beginning that Partizan was the ideal club for me. It seemed like the best decision.

Jones said he appreciated that KK Partizan, the team who signed him, was straightforward about his potential role.

We have more international notes:

  • Former first-round pick Usman Garuba recently signed a contract with Real Madrid, marking a return to the club for the former Rockets and Warriors forward, who was born and raised in Madrid. “It’s an incredible feeling to return to what has been my home since I was 10 or 11 years old,” Garuba said, as relayed by Eurohoops.net. “Being able to come back here is a dream for me. I’m very happy and looking forward to it. For me, Real Madrid has been everything from the very first moment. I have developed here in every sense, both academically and as a player. I have to thank this club for everything I am today,” Garuba averaged 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 105 games.
  • Former Grizzlies forward Killian Tillie signed with Unicaja Malaga in Spain, as Eurohoops.net relays. Tillie played in 54 games with the Grizzlies between 2020-22 and most recently participated in Summer League with the Celtics. Tillie’s return to professional basketball comes after two-and-a-half years of rehab from various injuries, including back surgery. He reportedly drew interest from NBA teams earlier this offseason.
  • In case you missed it, former Bucks guard Jaylin Galloway is returning to the Sydney Kings, the NBL team he played for before making the jump to the NBA.