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Extension Notes: Giddey, Green, Gobert, Gordon

October 23rd, 2024 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

Noting that Bulls guard Josh Giddey was among the top rookie scale extension candidates who didn’t sign a new contract before Monday’s deadline, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the two sides didn’t seem to gain any real traction in their negotiations ahead of the regular season.

“From what I understand, there were never really any meaningful negotiations there, which was a surprise to me,” Windhorst said. “I thought the Bulls were going to be under some amount of pressure to get him done because they had traded Alex Caruso for him.”

Giddey will now be on track for restricted free agency in 2025, with the Bulls getting the opportunity to evaluate him for a year before deciding how significant an investment they want to make in their new point guard.

Meanwhile, Windhorst and his podcast guest Bobby Marks singled out the unusual extension that Jalen Green signed with the Rockets – which gave him a third-year player option and a 10% trade kicker – and suggested that the unique terms of the deal signal that Green could become a trade candidate before his contract expires.

“This is a contract that a lot of people in the league think was signed for the option to be traded,” Windhorst said, adding that the 10% trade kicker was the biggest one handed out in any of this week’s extensions. “I’m not saying the Rockets are definitely going to trade him. I’m just saying this contract was designed to allow him to be traded.”

Here are a few more notes on the contract extensions that were completed this week:

Discussing his new three-year, $110MM agreement with the Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert said he didn’t want to be too “greedy” in negotiations and that he wanted the team to maintain some spending flexibility after locking him up, according to Chris Hine of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. As part of the deal, Gobert declined a $46.7MM player option for 2025/26 and will replace it with a cap hit that comes in $10MM+ below that. “It’s about finding balance,” Gobert said. “Every year, every time I sign a contract I always try to leave a little bit for the team, be able to realize that I’m grateful being able to earn what I’m earning coming from where I come from.”
Aaron Gordon made a similar concession in his extension with the Nuggets, picking up a $22.84MM player option for 2025/26 as part of the deal and allowing the team to put off his 40% raise until ’26/27. Gordon, who said he was “ecstatic” to finalize a long-term deal with Denver, referred to the extension as a “win-win” for him and the team, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “Playing alongside Joker (Nikola Jokic), Jamal (Murray), MPJ (Michael Porter Jr.), and being coached under Mike Malone, what more can you ask for?” Gordon said. “From the moment that I got here, Mike Malone has put me in a position to succeed and flourish. He’s put me in the right place, and he’s encouraged me to just be myself, and he’s coached me and allowed me to be myself. So to be coached under him is a great thing. And then just playing alongside these great players and continuing to build a friendship, a bond, a brotherhood, and a team, I’m really excited for it.”
John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the extensions signed this week and considers which teams made out the best and which clubs were smart to hold the line. Hollinger called the Rockets‘ five-year, $185MM deal with Alperen Sengun a “home run” for Houston and lauded the Pelicans for locking up Trey Murphy on a four-year, $112MM extension.

Community Shootaround: 2024/25 NBA Predictions

October 23rd, 2024 at 10:09am CST by Luke Adams

The 2024/25 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday night, with the defending-champion Celtics opening the season in impressive fashion by knocking down a record-tying 29 three-pointers en route to a blowout win over the new-look Knicks.

While teams like the Knicks and the Sixers, who are incorporating new stars, will need some time to jell and could become greater threats to Boston later in the season, the Celtics’ performance on Tuesday was a convincing reminder of why they’re considered a good bet to become the first NBA champion to go back-to-back since Golden State in 2017 and 2018. The Bucks, Cavaliers, Pacers, Magic, and Heat are among the other clubs hoping to give the C’s a run for their money in 2024/25.

Over in the Western Conference, the Thunder are widely considered the favorites to finish the season with the best record after claiming the No. 1 seed in 2023/24 and then upgrading the roster by adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso over the summer. But the growth of young teams isn’t always linear and Oklahoma City will face plenty of competition in a stacked Western Conference.

The last two teams to win the West – the Nuggets and Mavericks – should be among the conference’s top teams again in ’24/25. The Timberwolves made the Western Conference Finals in the spring and appear poised to contend again despite an opening-night loss. The Lakers, Suns, and Warriors will be leaning heavily on older stars, but could certainly make some noise if things break right. The Grizzlies won 50-plus games for two consecutive years before being hit hard by injuries last season; they’re hoping to bounce back. And longer-shot contenders like the Pelicans, Kings, and Rockets are all determined to take a step forward this season too.

In terms of award races, will voter fatigue work against three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert? If so, it could open the door for a first-time winner for each award, with Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander among the top MVP candidates and Victor Wembanyama considered the frontrunner for DPOY.

The Rookie of the Year field is an interesting one, with this year’s No. 1 pick (Zaccharie Risacher) not expected to make the same sort of immediate impact that Wembanyama did last season. Risacher is still a Rookie of the Year contender, but the favorite may be Zach Edey, given the significant role he’s expected to play for a Grizzlies team without a ton of depth at center.

Oddsmakers have pegged Wembanyama as the frontrunner for Most Improved Player in addition to making him the DPOY favorite, but there’s no shortage of breakout candidates around the league — Jalen Williams, Jalen Johnson, Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, Franz Wagner, and Cade Cunningham are among the Most Improved Player picks that bettors have favored this fall.

Last year’s top two finishers in Sixth Man of the Year voting – Naz Reid and Malik Monk – are primed to contend for that award again, though Reid isn’t the Timberwolves’ only potential candidate, as Donte DiVincenzo could be in the mix too. Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook and Pelicans wing Trey Murphy are a couple more possibilities I have my eye on, while Pacers swingman Bennedict Mathurin and Knicks guard Miles McBride are among those ranked highly by oddsmakers.

We want to know what you think. Are you predicting a Celtics repeat or do you expect another team to win the 2025 title? What team are you taking to come out of the West? Who are your picks for this year’s major awards? Who will be the biggest star to change teams at the trade deadline?

Do you have any other bold predictions to share for the upcoming season? Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

Wolves Notes: Lore, A-Rod, Randle, Finch, Conley, Edwards

October 23rd, 2024 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

With an arbitration hearing around the corner, prospective Timberwolves owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have put $942MM into an escrow account, according to reports from Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico and Shams Charania of ESPN.

As Novy-Williams explains, Lore’s and Rodriguez’s goal is to make it clear that there are no liquidity issues and that they have cash on hand to complete their purchase of the Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx if an arbitration panel rules in their favor. The group has also set aside about $300MM in working capital in the event that they’re given the go-ahead to assume control of the team, per Sportico.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst first reported last month on Lore’s and Rodriguez’s plan to put more than $900MM in escrow in advance of November’s arbitration hearing. The $942MM in escrow would be enough to fully buy out longtime Glen Taylor based on the terms of their agreement and would give the new owners 100% control of the two teams.

Lore and Rodriguez reached an agreement back in 2021 to buy the Timberwolves from Taylor for a valuation of $1.5 billion. The plan was for Lore and A-Rod to buy in gradually over three years, first purchasing a 20% stake in the team, then increasing that stake to 40% before assuming majority control earlier this year by bumping their stake to 80%. Taylor would have retained 20% of the franchise in that scenario.

However, Taylor announced in March that he’d be retaining his majority share of the Wolves due to the fact that the prospective owners missed their deadline for that third payment deadline (which would have taken them from 40% to 80%). Lore and Rodriguez disputed that claim, stating that they had submitted the necessary financial documentation and were awaiting league approval.

The arbitration hearing is set to begin on November 4. While Lore and Rodriguez are reportedly confident about their chances to prevail, it will likely take at least a few weeks for the panel to reach a decision.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

The bond between Julius Randle and Wolves head coach Chris Finch dating back to their time together with the Pelicans was one reason why Minnesota felt comfortable with the idea of acquiring Randle when they traded away Karl-Anthony Towns. Chris Hine of The Minneapolis Star Tribune and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic take a closer look at that bond, sharing some interesting tidbits of information and considering how the Randle/Finch dynamic will help determine the Wolves’ ceiling in 2024/25. As Krawczynski notes, Randle advocated for Finch back in 2020 when the Knicks were seeking a new head coach. “He just opened up my game and I became a really versatile player,” Randle said of his time with Finch in New Orleans, per Hine. “I always say, playing there and even still to this point, that was the easiest my game ever felt playing under Finch.”
At age 37, Mike Conley doesn’t feel as if his game is declining at all, but the Wolves will still take some extra precautions with the veteran point guard this season, Hine writes for The Star Tribune. The goal will be to reduce Conley’s playing time a little after he averaged about 29 minutes per game last season. “We feel like we could keep his minutes in the mid-20s,” Finch said. “So kind of save some miles there.”
Speaking to Jamal Collier as part of an ESPN feature story, rising Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards expressed a desire to spend his entire NBA career in Minnesota. “If I can, I’m trying to be here for my whole career,” Edwards said. “I ain’t trying to go nowhere.”
In case you missed it, the Wolves and Rudy Gobert agreed to terms on a contract extension that will keep the four-time Defensive Player of the Year under contract through at least 2027.

Contract Details: Gordon, Moody, Suggs, Green, Sengun, Murphy, More

October 23rd, 2024 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

The three-year veteran extension that Aaron Gordon signed with the Nuggets is worth $103,608,840 in total base salary, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As expected, Gordon is getting the maximum 40% raise on his 2025/26 salary ($22,841,455), with 8% annual raises after that.

Gordon’s is also getting the maximum 40% bump (and 8% subsequent increases) on his $1.2MM in incentives for the ’25/26 season, so they’ll increase to $1.68MM in the first year of the extension and will be worth $5,443,200 in total across the three years of the deal. That means that if the Nuggets forward earns all his bonuses, he could make up to $109,052,040 over those three seasons.

The trade kicker on Gordon’s extension is for just 3%, which represents the lowest percentage of any active trade kicker around the NBA.

Here are more details on some of the contracts recently signed by players across the league:

Moses Moody‘s three-year extension with the Warriors actually has a total base value of $37.5MM, rather than the $39MM initially reported. The deal includes $1.5MM in incentives that could push the total value up to $39MM.
Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM extension with the Magic starts at $35MM in 2025/26 and has a descending structure. By the fifth year, in 2029/30, Suggs’ cap hit will be just $26.7MM.
The exact value of Jalen Green‘s three-year extension with the Rockets is $105,333,333. It starts at $33,333,333, with matching $36MM cap hits in years two and three (the third year is a player option).
Alperen Sengun‘s five-year, $185MM extension with the Rockets has an ascending structure, though it doesn’t increase by the maximum allowable 8% per year. It begins at $33,944,954 in 2025/26 and eventually gets as high as $39,036,697 in years four and five. The fifth year is a player option.
Trey Murphy‘s four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans begins at $25MM and increases by $2MM annually, getting up to $31MM by year four.
The new standard contract Alex Reese signed with the Thunder is a straightforward one-year, minimum-salary deal that is fully non-guaranteed. I’d be a little surprised if Reese lasts the whole season on that contract, but if he does, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2025.
Alondes Williams‘ two-way contract with the Pistons is for two years. While it’s pretty rare for a player to play out a full two-year, two-way contract, Detroit could technically keep Williams on his current deal all the way through the end of the 2025/26 season.

Southeast Notes: Williams, Lee, Johnson, McClung

October 22nd, 2024 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets won’t have their starting center available for the season opener. Mark Williams has been ruled out while he continues to rehab a left foot injury, the team’s PR department tweets. Williams has returned to on-court activity, so he should be back in action soon.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Hornets first-year coach Charles Lee says he’s ready to get the season started, according to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “I feel the same way — cool and calm — and I can feel that way because I feel like we’re prepared,” said Lee, whose team opens its season at Houston on Wednesday. “I think that we talked through a lot of situations offensively, defensively. We put in a good amount of information and I think it’s going to help us be competitive in the early part of the year. As the season continues to evolve, we’ll continue to evolve and will continue to put more things in on defense and on offense. But I feel great and a lot of it is because I have a really good team and a team that’s been open-minded the whole preseason. And they’ve been consistent with their work ethic and their work habits.”
The Hawks gave Jalen Johnson a giant commitment, signing him to a five-year, $150MM rookie scale extension. General manager Landry Fields was comfortable signing Johnson to a long-term deal because of his work ethic and attitude. “He’s competitive, he works his tail off and he’s willing to do what needs to be done in order to get better. For a lot of guys, that’s not always the case. But he embodies all of that,” Fields said, per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss and John Hollinger. “When we get those types of players, we want to invest in them. So we’re happy and excited to invest in him for our future because we see a high ceiling for him.” Johnson had a breakout last season after two nondescript seasons and is thrilled to have long-term security, according to Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I mean, Atlanta is where I want to be,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing, no doubt about that. I feel like we’re building something really special here, and I want to be a part of it. So it meant a lot for, you know, them to want to get something done with me as well.”
After toiling in the G League last season, Mac McClung is relieved to receive a two-way contract with the Magic, he told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “It was a special moment,” he said. “I’ve been working hard to get something like this, so it was just very special and a relief, for sure.” McClung entered camp on an Exhibit 10 deal.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors Injuries, Raptors Schedule, Mazzulla, McCain

October 22nd, 2024 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors have listed RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Bruce Brown as out for their season opener against Cleveland on Wednesday, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets.

Barrett is making progress in his recovery from shoulder injury. He was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday but still hasn’t been cleared for contact, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter links). Olynyk is dealing with back stiffness, while Walter and Brown are recovering from shoulder and knee injuries, respectively.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Raptors have acknowledged this will be a rebuilding season but that doesn’t mean they have to be boring, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. The Raptors plan to push the pace and play an entertaining brand of basketball but their early schedule is brutal, Koreen notes. In its first 25 games, Toronto will have 22 matchups against teams that finished better .500 in 2023/24.
Joe Mazzulla had a blunt and somewhat amusing response to questions about the pressure to repeat as champions. “It’s not pressure,” said the Celtics coach, per ESPN News Services. “There’s nothing anyone in this circle can do to me that’s going to impact my identity and who I am as a person or a coach. We’re either going to win or we’re not, and 40 years from now, none of you are invited to my funeral and that’s it.”
Sixers first-rounder Jared McCain averaged 12.8 points and shot 37.9% on 3-pointers in five preseason games but he’s unlikely to find many minutes on a win-now team. McCain plans to work hard and deal with whatever’s thrown at him in his rookie campaign, he told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. McCain will be available for Philadelphia’s opener on Wednesday despite suffering bruised lungs during a preseason game last week. He’s not listed on the injury report, Pompey tweets.

Western Notes: Huerter, Murphy, Braun, Strawther, Jokic

October 22nd, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kings guard Kevin Huerter went through a full practice, including a scrimmage, on Tuesday. Huerter was cleared for full contact earlier this month after undergoing left shoulder surgery during the spring. It appears he’ll jump right back into a starting role.

“He looks good. Doesn’t look like he missed a beat at all. If he plays (in Thursday’s regular season opener), he’ll probably start,” head coach Mike Brown said, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter links).

We have more from the Western Conference:

Now that the Pelicans have locked in Trey Murphy to a rookie scale extension, it’s time to see what he can do as a full-time starter, Will Guillory of The Athletic opines. Guillory believes Murphy could play at an All-Star level and make New Orleans a prime contender but needs an expanded role to show if he can develop into that type of player. Murphy signed a four-year extension worth $112MM on Monday.
While Christian Braun is generally considered the likely successor to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as the Nuggets’ starting shooting guard, coach Michael Malone continues to insist that Julian Strawther is still in the running for that spot, Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports tweets.
The Nuggets open their season on Thursday and center Nikola Jokic says the team needs to ramp it up after what he feels was a poor preseason, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “I think we didn’t play the preseason how we’re supposed to be playing,” Jokic said. “The defense was not where it’s supposed to be. We couldn’t make shots. So we played really bad and poorly the whole preseason. So hopefully we can do something a little bit better when the (regular) season comes.”

Hardy Signs Three-Year Extension With Mavs; No Extension For Grimes

October 22nd, 2024 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 22: Hardy has officially signed his extension, according to Mavs PR (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 21: Third-year guard Jaden Hardy has agreed to a three-year, $18MM extension with the Mavericks, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. The final year of Hardy’s extension will include a team option, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.

Hardy was a second-round pick in 2022 and the contract he’s signing is considered a veteran extension rather than a rookie scale extension.

He was eligible to sign at any point this season, unlike some other veterans who faced a Monday deadline. However, Hardy and the team chose to get the deal done sooner rather than later.

In related news, the Mavericks won’t be signing Quentin Grimes to a rookie scale extension, The Athletic’s Fred Katz tweets. Grimes will be headed to restricted free agency next summer.

Hardy has proved to be a valuable rotation player in his two NBA seasons. He saw action in 73 regular season games last season, including seven starts, averaging 7.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 13.5 minutes per contest. He’s established himself as a reliable three-point threat in his two seasons in Dallas (37.9%).

The 6’4” Hardy also played regularly in the postseason, albeit in limited minutes. He averaged 4.2 PPG in 6.8 MPG. He could have an opportunity for more minutes early in the 2024/25 season with Dante Exum sidelined due to wrist surgery.

Low-cost rotation players are extremely valuable to contenders with max contract players on their ledger, so Hardy’s willingness to sign for an average of $6MM per season was naturally an incentive for the Western Conference champions.

The Grimes news comes somewhat as a surprise, considering he was reportedly negotiating a three-year extension with Dallas. According to Marc Stein (Twitter link), despite some initial optimism, the two sides were unable to bridge a gap in their discussions during the final days leading up to Monday’s deadline.

Grimes, a late first-rounder in 2021, spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Knicks, then was dealt to the Pistons at the February trade deadline. Detroit included Grimes in the offseason Tim Hardaway Jr. deal.

Los Angeles Notes: Porter Jr., Harden, Olivari, James Family

October 22nd, 2024 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA’s investigation regarding Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. remains ongoing, Law Murray of The Athletic tweets. Porter will be able to play until the NBA decides whether to take disciplinary action. The Clippers signed Porter to a two-year contract in the summer despite his past troubles with the law.

In 2023, following an arrest on a domestic assault charge, Porter was traded by the Rockets to Oklahoma City shortly before the start of the regular season. The Thunder waived him the day after the deal was completed and he didn’t play in the league last season.

Porter reached a plea agreement of a third-degree reckless assault misdemeanor in January. He was required to complete a court-ordered program, after which his plea was to move to not guilty with no criminal record.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

With Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely due to his knee rehab, James Harden is thrust into the role of primary scorer for the Clippers. However, coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t want to place too much of a burden on the 35-year-old guard. “Yeah, we got to be smart about it. We’ve been talking about it, meeting about it, just making sure we don’t run him into the ground,” Lue told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “When you lose a power player like Kawhi to start, you can see yourself playing James way more minutes than you need to. So, we just got to make sure we keep him healthy and make sure we’re doing the smart thing, and we’re still working on that right now as far as minutes and what we try to have to start the season.”
Quincy Olivari had his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal by the Lakers after his strong preseason showing. He’s thrilled to make the roster but has loftier goals in mind. “This ain’t my end goal in life, but it’s another milestone that I’ve completed and accomplished and I’m just ready,” Olivari told Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. “I’m just glad I was able to come back here to practice, honestly. I woke up and I was like, ‘It might be early, I might still be tired, but there’s some people that don’t have this blessing that I have so I’m just going to take full advantage.’ It changed my whole mindset.”
Will Bronny James appear on the court at the same time as his father in the Lakers’ season opener? LeBron James says there’s no rush to make history. “Whenever it happens, it will happen,” he said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “If it’s tonight or if it’s down the line, whenever it happens, it will happen. But it’s been a treat, and just in preseason, the practices, just every day … just bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day as a professional.” The Lakers host Minnesota on Tuesday.

Heat Notes: Herro, Butler, Offense, Richardson

October 22nd, 2024 at 4:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat guard Tyler Herro bristled last season when head coach Erik Spoelstra had him play off the ball more often while attempting more catch-and-shoot three-pointers, but he has bought in on the adjustments to his role ahead of the 2024/25 season, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“I mean, I’m actually a really good catch-and-shoot player,” Herro told Winderman. “I didn’t know that last season, when I was being in my feelings about being a catch-and-shoot player. I’m a very good catch-and-shoot player, as well as I am off the dribble. So I think I can do both.”

Herro will be part of a starting five that includes other ball-dominant players, including Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier, so while he’ll have opportunities to handle the ball, he’s also expecting to play off of it more often than he has in the past. He indicated he’s happy to take on whatever role the team asks of him.

“This is already year six for me, so I definitely have matured in my mind,” he said earlier in camp. “Last year, I was coming in like, ‘I’m trying to score 25 per game.’ This year, honestly, I’m just here to play, have fun, be myself. Whatever I end up averaging, I end up averaging.

“… I’m not here to push any agendas of All-Star or anything like that,” he added. “I’m just honestly here to have fun, win a championship with the guys we have, and just go from there.”

Here’s more on the Heat:

Even if the Heat were to offer Butler a maximum-salary contract extension at this point, the expectation is that he’d pass on it, sources tell Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, since the star swingman is focused on playing out his current deal and reevaluating his contract situation next summer. However, there’s still no indication he wants to be anywhere except Miami. Agent Bernie Lee, who spoke to Chiang about his client’s outlook ahead of the coming season, said that the organization supported Butler admirably during a difficult time when his father passed away last season.
In two more stories for The Miami Herald, Chiang looks at what we learned during the Heat’s five-game preseason slate and examines the offensive changes that Spoelstra is implementing this fall. As Chiang notes, Miami has made it a priority to move away from mid-range attempts and to focus more on layups and three-pointers in an effort to make its offense more efficient.
Riley said last week that Bam Adebayo, Butler, Herro, and Rozier “have to be better” for the Heat to take a step forward in 2024/25. What would that look like in practice? Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald takes a closer look at specific potential areas of improvement for each player.
Josh Richardson has been medically cleared in his recovery from March shoulder surgery, but is now battling left heel inflammation and isn’t expected to be ready for the regular season opener, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

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