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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Charlotte Hornets

August 16th, 2024 at 1:33pm 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 Charlotte Hornets.

Free agent signings

Miles Bridges: Three years, $75,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Seth Curry: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Taj Gibson: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($1,082,270). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Devonte’ Graham and the Pelicans’ 2025 second-round pick from the Spurs in exchange for cash.
- Note: Graham was subsequently waived.
Acquired Josh Green, Reggie Jackson, the Nuggets’ 2029 second-round pick, and the Nuggets’ 2030 second-round pick from the Mavericks and Nuggets in a six-team trade in exchange for the Sixers’ 2025 second-round pick (to Mavericks or Timberwolves) and cash (to Nuggets).
- Note: Jackson was subsequently bought out.

Draft picks

1-6: Tidjane Salaun
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $34,035,472).
2-42: KJ Simpson
- Signed to two-year, two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Moussa Diabate
KJ Simpson

Departed/unsigned free agents

Amari Bailey (unsigned)
JT Thor (unsigned)

Other moves

Waived Davis Bertans.
Waived Leaky Black (two-way).
Waived Marques Bolden (two-way).
Waived Bryce McGowens.
Waived Aleksej Pokusevski.

Salary cap situation

Went below the cap to use room.
Now operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
Carrying approximately $153.6MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $188,931,000.
Full room exception ($8MM) available.

The offseason so far

The Hornets only won 21 games in 2023/24, their lowest mark in over a decade, but there were a few positive developments over the course of the season – the first under their new ownership group – that may pay off for the franchise in the long run.

For one, last year’s No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller looks like a long-term building block and a future star. Charlotte also made a smart mid-season pivot, accepting the best offers on the trade market for veterans Terry Rozier, P.J. Washington, and Gordon Hayward, which netted the club several future draft assets. Finally, the team made a front office change in the spring, hiring Jeff Peterson to be its new head of basketball operations.

It will take some time before we can really evaluate several of the moves Peterson made during his first offseason at the helm. For instance, his head coaching hire looks like a good one — Charles Lee has received rave reviews for his work as an assistant. But first-time head coaches don’t come without risk, so it remains to be seen whether Lee’s transition to a lead role is a smooth one.

The biggest roster move the Hornets made this summer was re-signing forward Miles Bridges to a three-year, $75MM contract as an unrestricted free agent. That looks like a fair deal based on his on-court production, but Bridges’ history of domestic violence cases can’t be ignored. The hope in Charlotte is that Bridges’ past behavior is fully in the rear-view mirror and that he’ll be an upstanding citizen going forward, but you can certainly make a case that the Hornets never should have made that sort of investment to a player with those allegations on his record.

The Hornets’ 2024 lottery pick doesn’t come without risk either, albeit for entirely different reasons — Tidjane Salaun just turned 19 last week and isn’t considered likely to make an NBA impact as a rookie. Many people around the league were surprised Salaun was selected as high as No. 6, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Woo; ESPN’s Jonathan Givony describes him as a player who is “still just getting his feet wet at the highest levels.” That doesn’t mean Salaun won’t become an impact player down the road, but Charlotte will have to be patient with his development.

The Hornets operated under the cap this offseason, with Peterson using that room to accommodate a handful of salary dumps (Devonte’ Graham, Reggie Jackson, Josh Green) rather than pursuing outside free agents.

Graham and Jackson came with draft picks attached and were subsequently waived, whereas Green – a 23-year-old wing with a three-and-D skill set – projects to be a rotation player in Charlotte going forward. He’s under contract through the 2026/27 season.

Up next

The Hornets still have roster spots to fill before the regular season begins, with 14 players on standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.

While the team could leave that 15th standard roster spot open to start the season, there’s no real reason not to fill it, given how far Charlotte’s team salary is from the luxury tax line. If the Hornets aren’t yet prepared to commit to a player for the full season, they could carry a 15th man with a non-guaranteed salary this fall.

Tre Mann, who was acquired from the Thunder at the 2024 trade deadline, is eligible for a rookie scale extension, while Cody Martin is eligible for a veteran extension. Martin isn’t a candidate for a new deal at this point, given his injury woes over the past two seasons, but Mann might be one worth watching — he made 28 starts for Charlotte down the stretch and played well (11.9 PPG, 5.2 APG, .453/.364/.759 shooting).

That’s a relatively small sample size, so the Hornets may prefer to wait another year on Mann and then negotiate a deal with him in restricted free agency next summer. But if they’re encouraged by how he looks in camp and if the price is right, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if the two sides worked something out sooner rather than later.

The Hornets are a team to watch on the trade market during the preseason and into the season, since they can afford to take on some salary and have shown in the last eight months that they’re happy to take on unwanted contracts in order to continue stockpiling draft assets.

Clippers Preparing To Retain P.J. Tucker Into Regular Season?

August 16th, 2024 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers are preparing for the possibility that veteran forward P.J. Tucker will still be on their roster when the regular season begins, league sources tell Law Murray of The Athletic.

Tucker, who had a limited role in Los Angeles last season after arriving from Philadelphia in the James Harden trade, picked up his $11.54MM player option for the 2024/25 season in June.

Murray previously reported that L.A. was expected to part ways with the 13-year NBA veteran this offseason, either by trading or waiving him. However, moving Tucker’s expiring contract in a salary-dump trade would almost certainly require the Clippers to attach more valuable assets, given his negative trade value.

There aren’t many teams around the league who are in position to take on Tucker’s $11.54MM salary and the Clippers likely don’t feel as much urgency to move off the contract at this point, given that they’ve already used their bi-annual exception and most of their mid-level exception — removing Tucker’s deal from their books wouldn’t really create much practical spending flexibility.

While Murray suggests that a deal is unlikely to happen before training camp, Tucker remains a strong candidate to be moved at some point before the February trade deadline. His expiring salary could be used for matching purposes to help accommodate a mid-season move for the Clippers.

Tucker appeared in just 28 regular season games for Los Angeles in 2023/24, averaging 1.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per contest, and he wasn’t used until Game 5 of the club’s first-round playoff series vs. Dallas.

During his best years in Houston, Tucker was a tough, switchable frontcourt defender who had the quickness to guard out to the perimeter and the strength to match up against bigger players. He was also a threat to knock down corner threes on offense. Now 39 years old, the forward is no longer as effective a three-and-D contributor and doesn’t command serious attention from opposing defenses — he averaged just 1.6 shot attempts per game in 2023/24.

Community Shootaround: Potential Rookie Of The Year Candidates

August 16th, 2024 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed on Thursday, No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland recently expressed a desire to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 2024/25.

On the surface, Holland looks like a long shot for that honor. He just turned 19 years old and struggled last season as a member of the G League Ignite with his outside shot (.239 3PT%), overall scoring efficiency (.682 FT%), and turnovers (3.5 per game). The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag list Holland at +1800 for Rookie of the Year award, with 10 players ahead of him.

Still, it’s not an unreasonable goal for Holland. He should have an opportunity to earn minutes on the rebuilding Pistons, and this year’s Rookie of the Year race looks awfully wide open. A year ago, BetOnline.ag listed Victor Wembanyama as the overwhelming favorite (-150) for the award; this time around, the player with the best odds – Rockets guard Reed Sheppard – is at just +600.

Zaccharie Risacher of the Hawks and Alex Sarr of the Wizards were the top two picks in the 2024 draft, but neither player is expected to make the sort of immediate impact that Wembanyama – or even No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller – did. They’re listed as the third- and fourth-best bets for Rookie of the Year honors at +850 and +900, respectively.

Sheppard will have to earn minutes in a crowded Rockets rotation, but he showed during his lone college season at Kentucky that he’s capable of providing the sort of outside shooting Houston could use — he made a whopping 52.1% of his three-point attempts in 2023/24.

Grizzlies center Zach Edey, who has the second-best ROY odds at +650, could be a compelling candidate. It remains to be seen how he’ll adjust to the speed and athleticism at the NBA level, but he has a path to playing time in a Memphis frontcourt that no longer features Steven Adams or Xavier Tillman. He also spent four years playing college ball and should be more NBA-ready than many of his fellow lottery picks. Plus, the Grizzlies arguably have more upside in 2024/25 than any other lottery team, so if the team wins 50+ games, that could help Edey in the end-of-season vote.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle (+900), Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (+900), Lakers sharpshooter Dalton Knecht (+1100), Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham (+1200), Wizards guard Carlton Carrington (+1400), and Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (+1600) are some of the other first-year players viewed as Rookie of the Year candidates, but not all of them are locks to be in their teams’ rotations right away. Clingan, for instance, will have to battle Robert Williams and Duop Reath for minutes at center behind presumptive starter Deandre Ayton.

We want to know what you think. If you had to make a Rookie of the Year prediction today, which player would you feel most comfortable picking? Will there be several good contenders for the award or is there a particular rookie you expect to pull away from the pack?

Of the last 10 Rookie of the Year winners, five have been No. 1 overall picks and four others were selected in the top four. Will we deviate from that trend this year and get our first winner outside the top four since No. 36 overall pick Malcolm Brogdon won the 2017 award?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts on which of this year’s rookies will make the biggest first-year impact.

And-Ones: Marquee Matchups, Cap Room, Spending, Most Improved Teams

August 16th, 2024 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024/25 regular season on Thursday, and while there generally aren’t any surprises on that schedule (it’s not like the NFL, where a team plays fewer than half of the league’s other clubs), it’s still worth circling specific dates and marquee matchups.

Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.

The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.

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

A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.

Offseason Observations: Yabusele, MLEs, Draftees, Trade Vetos, Swap Rights

August 16th, 2024 at 7:18am CST by Luke Adams

With the Lauri Markkanen situation resolved, the Paris Olympics in the books, and NBA training camps still about a month-and-a-half away, we're entering the quietest portion of the 2024 offseason.

However, that doesn't mean there's nothing worth discussing.

Here are a few of the summer subplots I've been keeping an eye on, ranging from how Guerschon Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid impacts a potential move to the NBA to the new ways in which teams are negotiating draft-pick swap rights in trades.

How Guerschon Yabusele's buyout works

A former NBA first-round pick who has been out of the league since 2019, Yabusele had an impressive showing for the French national team during the Olympics and suggested on social media after the Games that he'd welcome another opportunity stateside. However, reporting from Marc Stein indicated that Yabusele's buyout with Real Madrid is worth $2.5MM.

At least one report has stated Yabusele would be responsible for paying the majority of that $2.5MM buyout, while another has suggested an NBA team that signs him would be on the hook for the full amount. The truth depends on your perspective. Here's how it works:

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Western Notes: Kennard, Edwards, Wembanyama, KD, Blazers

August 15th, 2024 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

After the Grizzlies turned down Luke Kennard‘s 2024/25 team option on June 29, the expectation was that he’d sign a new contract with the club. It took over a month, but the two sides eventually agreed to a one-year, $11MM deal, and Kennard said this week that returning to Memphis was always the plan, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

“There are a lot of different conversations that go on throughout that process,” Kennard said. “I told (Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman) I want to be in Memphis. This is where I want to be. I’m excited with what they have built here over the last few years. I just wanted to be a small part of that.”

Family considerations factored into Kennard’s desire to remain with the Grizzlies, according to Cole, who notes that the 28-year-old is an Ohio native whose family isn’t too far from Memphis. Kennard and his wife also had a child in March, so he wasn’t eager to uproot them to move across the country.

“The fact that (family) can come see me anytime is such a big thing,” Kennard said. “Being closer to home plays a big factor. With the new baby and a wife at home, they love where we’re at and the city where we are. It’s been a great time so far. We’ve enjoyed Memphis a lot. We’re just glad we have at least another year.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Anthony Edwards‘ Team USA experience at the 2023 World Cup ended without a medal, but the Timberwolves couldn’t have asked for a better set of circumstances for their young star this summer, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who details how Edwards played an important role for a gold-medal U.S. roster at the Olympics and got the chance to spend several weeks learning from three of the best NBA players of all-time in LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
Rising Spurs star Victor Wembanyama didn’t get to spend as much time with Durant in Paris as Edwards did, but the reigning Rookie of the Year appreciated getting the opportunity to speak to the Suns forward following France’s loss to Team USA in the gold medal game. “Clearly, this is my personal childhood favorite,” Wembanyama said in an appearance on M6 (YouTube link; hat tip to Eurohoops). “He became my favorite player… I made it clear to him that I wanted to learn from him and perhaps steal one or two of his secret techniques.”
The Trail Blazers are parting ways with ROOT Sports and will be moving their games to an over-the-air network, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, who says the details of the team’s TV broadcast plans for the 2024/25 season will be announced soon. It has become a bit of a trend for NBA teams to leave local regional sports networks in favor of over-the-air channels, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, with the Blazers joining Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans as teams who have recently made that move.

Suns CEO Bartelstein Talks Durant, Jones, Budenholzer, More

August 15th, 2024 at 8:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during an extensive interview with PHNX Sports about Kevin Durant‘s future with the Suns, team CEO Josh Bartelstein reiterated the same message that he delivered to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic two weeks ago. While Bartelstein offered no guarantees that Durant will sign a contract extension before the season begins, he stressed that the relationship between the franchise and its star forward is in a very good place.

“He loves it here. We talk to Rich Kleiman, who’s his partner, all the time about the vision and what we’re building, and everyone’s really happy, and I think we’re gonna have a really really good year,” Bartelstein said. “And Kevin’s part of all the discussions about the vision for the team, all the stuff we’re doing on the court, off the court. So the fact that we have all that dialogue, there’s equity built into it. If you do those things, everything else will take care of itself.”

Bartelstein’s conversation with PHNX Sports covered a wide range of additional topics, including his day-to-day duties for the organization, his expectations for the Suns’ new G League affiliate, navigating the second apron, and much more.

The interview is worth checking out in full, especially for Suns fans, but here are a few of Bartelstein’s most noteworthy comments:

On unexpectedly landing Tyus Jones on a minimum-salary deal late in free agency:

“We pulled it out of the back pocket. I think it’s why relationships matter so much. His agent, Kevin Bradbury, and I are friendly, and there’s a balance of just checking in and knowing what’s going on. And (Suns general manager) James (Jones) and I would talk all the time about, ‘Hey, if we could get Tyus, it would be a home run.’ But the first 10 days of free agency, you’re kind of just sitting there and seeing how the market plays out. I think with the new rules and, like, the cap space, a lot of people got squeezed.

“So our first real meeting with Tyus and his agent Kevin was in Vegas during Summer League, and we had a nice drink and kind of talked about the role and vision, how it could be a perfect fit, but also just that they were gonna take their time and see how things played out. And from there, then we said, like, ‘Let’s go all in and recruit him, and the worst thing they can do is say no to us.’ But we went all in on recruiting him, from little gift bags to videos for their kids, to all the small details and showing the care factor.

“… Obviously if someone offers you way more money, like, that matters. But if it’s close or it’s on the margins, we think the community we have here, the relationships we have here, the concierge service we have here, we can really give ourselves an advantage, and it’s worked in getting some of these guys to pick us.”

On the impact he expects new head coach Mike Budenholzer to have on the team:

“He is awesome. I mean, he’s the real deal. We’ve become very, very close over the three months. It’s crazy it’s been that fast. He’s so detail-oriented. He thinks Phoenix Suns all day, every day, from the biggest things of where is Kevin gonna get the ball to the smallest things of how do we maximize our two-way guys’ days? Like, he’s just always thinking Suns basketball, and he’s a basketball savant. The way he uses players, the success he’s had, the wins, you’re talking about one of the best coaches in the NBA.

“And he’s a great person too. I think he’ll be great in the community. He’s so happy to be here that he can’t wait to get started. So just seeing how he thinks has been cool, about the things he values, how we want to play. We’ve had so many discussions. He was a huge part of the recruiting. I mean, Tyus Jones said it, Bud was a big part of why Tyus picked here. How Bud has gotten players paid, how Bud uses guys, how he optimizes them, so all of our free agents, all of our guys, Bud has a say in it, ’cause he’s the head coach and we’re really, really lucky to have him.”

On why the Suns are excited about 2024 draftees Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro:

“As good of a basketball player as (Dunn) is, he’s an amazing person. Like, he’s a really, really good young man, and he works his tail off. He’s always, always in the gym. And I think for us, that athleticism, size, defensive versatility — that’s what we need, right? Like, if you checked the box of what we’re missing, it’s him. It’s a lot to ask him to go play 20 minutes a game in year one, but we’re gonna develop him. He’ll have a lot of opportunities to play.

“And Oso is someone that came here twice to work out and we loved him. His passing, his play-making, incredibly high IQ. He’s today’s NBA big, and I think with Nurk (Jusuf Nurkic) and Mason (Plumlee), he’ll learn a ton too, ’cause they have a similar archetype player-wise.”

Clippers, Kevon Harris Agree To Camp Deal

August 15th, 2024 at 6:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Kevon Harris has agreed to sign a training camp contract with the Clippers, agent Daniel Hazan tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Harris will get the opportunity to compete for a regular season roster spot in Los Angeles. However, that could be an uphill battle unless the Clippers trade or waive one of the players projected to be on their 15-man roster. The club is currently carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, plus Kai Jones on an Exhibit 10 deal.

Harris, 27, appeared in 34 games for the Magic in 2022/23 while on a two-way contract with the team. That deal covered the ’23/24 season as well, though he saw action in just two NBA contests this past year after missing the first half of the season due to a knee issue.

In 27 regular season outings for the Osceola Magic in the G League in ’23/24, Harris averaged 16.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 28.8 minutes per contest, posting a shooting line of .492/.381/.746. The 6’5″ shooting guard was selected to play in the NBAGL’s Up Next game at All-Star weekend.

The Clippers currently have 18 players officially signed to their offseason roster and have also reportedly reached agreements on training camp deals with Elijah Harkless, RayJ Dennis, and now Harris.

NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Golden State Warriors

August 15th, 2024 at 5:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Buddy Hield: Four years, $37,756,096. Third year partially guaranteed ($3MM). Fourth-year player option (partially guaranteed for $3,136,364 if exercised). Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Sixers.
Kyle Anderson: Three years, $27,658,536. Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Timberwolves.
De’Anthony Melton: One year, $12,822,000. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Jackson Rowe: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Lindy Waters from the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick).
Reacquired the draft rights to Quinten Post (No. 52 pick) from the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash.
Acquired Kyle Anderson (sign-and-trade) and Buddy Hield (sign-and-trade) in a six-team trade in exchange for Klay Thompson (sign-and-trade; to Mavericks), swap rights for the Warriors’ 2031 second-round pick (to Timberwolves), and cash (to Timberwolves)

Draft picks

2-52: Quinten Post
- Unsigned.

Two-way signings

Reece Beekman
Daeqwon Plowden

Departed/unsigned free agents

Usman Garuba (unsigned)
Jerome Robinson (Saint-Quentin)
Lester Quinones (unsigned)
Dario Saric (Nuggets)
Klay Thompson (Mavericks)

Other moves

Waived Chris Paul.

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and below the first tax apron ($178.1MM).
Carrying approximately $176.6MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $178,132,000.
Bi-annual exception available.
One traded player exception available (worth $2,019,706).

The offseason so far

It was the end of an era this summer in the Bay Area, as four-time champion Klay Thompson, decided to move on to a new team after spending his first 13 NBA seasons with the Warriors.

Seeing Thompson in a Mavericks uniform next season will be an adjustment — if there was one group of active core players who seemed destined to spend their entire careers with a single franchise, it was Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green with the Warriors.

Still, it’s hard to say the move was particularly surprising, given how disgruntled Thompson seemed to be during his final season in Golden State as his role diminished, his production declined, and the Warriors’ extension offer(s) came in below what he believed his history with the organization warranted.

Thompson is still an effective offensive weapon (he averaged 17.9 PPG with a .387 3PT% last season), but his defense has fallen off since he tore his ACL and Achilles, and moving on from him and Chris Paul (whose $30MM non-guaranteed salary was waived) makes the Warriors’ roster younger, more flexible, and more affordable heading into the 2024/25 season.

After operating above the luxury tax line for years, the Warriors made a concerted effort to cut costs — ownership would likely still be willing to spend big bucks for a championship contender, but the club didn’t make it out of the first round of the play-in tournament this spring. It didn’t make sense to continue carrying such a significant payroll.

The move below the first tax apron allowed the Dubs to make the kinds of moves that had been off-limits for years, including using their full mid-level exception (on versatile guard De’Anthony Melton) and acquiring players via sign-and-trade (sharpshooter Buddy Hield and savvy veteran Kyle Anderson).

The newcomers won’t instantly return Golden State to title contention, but there’s optimism that their mix of skill sets and the ongoing development of young players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis can make the Warriors a deeper, more dangerous team than they were in 2023/24.

Up next

With 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, the Warriors’ roster looks just about regular-season-ready. Adding a 15th man is unlikely due to the team’s proximity to its hard cap, and while Gui Santos and Lindy Waters aren’t necessarily locked in for the regular season due to their non-guaranteed salaries, there has been no indication Golden State will look to replace either player.

Still, there are issues to address before the season begins, starting with potential contract extensions. Kuminga and Moody are eligible for rookie scale extensions, while Curry could sign a one-year veteran extension worth approximately $62.6MM for 2026/27.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect Moody to get a new deal this summer or fall. His playing time has been inconsistent in his first three seasons, so the Warriors will be reluctant to pay him big money based on his career achievements so far, while Moody will be reluctant to lock in a long-term deal before he gets a chance to show what he can do with a more regular role.

Curry, on the other hand, seems more likely to get something done. The Over-38 rule prevents the Warriors from tacking on more than one year to the two left on his current deal, but I have to think they’d be willing to give him that one year if he wants it. Curry showed in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics that we shouldn’t count on his performance falling off anytime soon.

Kuminga’s case is a trickier one. Based on his breakout performance during the second half of the 2023/24 season (he averaged 20.0 PPG and 5.4 RPG on .547/.377/.778 shooting during a 34-game stretch from January 12 to March 26 before injuring his knee), he’d be justified in seeking a massive payday.

I don’t expect the Warriors to give him the maximum-salary deal that his fellow 2021 draftees Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner received. The question is whether there’s an amount below the max that makes sense for both sides.

Given his limited track record, you may balk at the idea of a deal in the range of $150-175MM for Kuminga, but if he follows up last year’s breakout by taking another step forward, he could be worth even more than that in free agency next summer. As a point of comparison, Immanuel Quickley got $162.5MM in guaranteed money from Toronto last month as a restricted free agent. This will be a tricky negotiation, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Golden State takes its chances and postpones it until 2025.

In addition to sorting through possible extensions, the Warriors will have to resolve Quinten Post‘s situation. The No. 52 overall pick is one of the only unsigned players from this year’s draft class — a two-way deal would make sense, given his draft slot, but Golden State would have to waive someone (possibly Pat Spencer?) to create a two-way opening for Post.

The Warriors’ pursuit of Lauri Markkanen showed that the front office isn’t opposed to shaking up its roster before training camp, but with the Jazz forward no longer trade-eligible, I don’t see any trade candidates out there right now that make a ton of sense for Golden State. While general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. will probably keep an eye out for possible deals, I’d be a little surprised if he does anything significant by October.

Lakers To Retire Michael Cooper’s No. 21 In January

August 15th, 2024 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers will retire Michael Cooper‘s No. 21 jersey on January 13 when they host San Antonio, the team announced (via Twitter).

A Los Angeles native, Cooper was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April. He won five championships while spending his entire NBA playing career with the Lakers. Cooper was primarily known for his excellent defense, earning eight All-Defensive nods and winning Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.

Cooper averaged 8.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.2 APG and 1.2 SPG while shooting 46.9% from the floor and 83.3% from the free throw line in 873 regular season games from 1978-90. He primarily came off the bench, only starting 94 contests, though he was certainly a valuable sixth man, averaging 27.1 MPG in his career.

Cooper has coached for several different organizations since his playing days ended, including as an assistant for the Lakers and Nuggets. He was briefly interim head coach of Denver as well. Cooper won back-to-back WNBA titles as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001 and 2002 and also won a D League title with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in 2006 (the D League has since been rebranded as the NBA G League).

Now 68, Cooper is currently a men’s assistant coach at Cal State Los Angeles. The Division II school had its best-ever season in 2023/24, notes Paul Helms of the university’s website.

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