Eastern Notes: Yabusele, Cayette-Wilson, Hornets, Valanciunas

Former Celtic forward Guerschon Yabusele, one of the top players on France’s Olympic team, wants to return to the NBA. Don’t expect Boston to make a run at him, The Athletic’s Jared Weiss writes.

Yabusele played two seasons with Boston after being drafted in the first round in 2016. Yabusele has a $2.5MM buyout in the final year of his contract with Real Madrid. The Celtics already have a similar player in Xavier Tillman and even minimum deals would result in a hefty luxury tax penalty for a franchise above the second tax apron.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Shelly Cayette-Weston, the Hornets’ new president of business operations, said that renovations for the team’s Spectrum Center are on schedule. “It’s a two-phase process, so that’s going to be a little interesting,” Cayette-Weston told Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “We’re going to have Phase 1 that opens this October, and then we’re going to go and do a lot more work even next summer. So, I want them to also prepare that it is a multi-phase summer project. But I think when they come in, still they’re going to immediately see some new clubs, some new spaces, you think about the entrance when you walk in and that plaza area.”
  • The Hornets have announced that their new health and performance staff will be led by Trent Salo, Boone tweets. Salo worked for the Pistons over the last seven seasons. Matthew Tuttle has been named director of sports medicine and Bryce Daub has the title of director of athletic performance. Quinton Sawyer has been promoted to head athletic trainer.
  • Jonas Valanciunas ranks as one of the league’s all-time best rebounders, Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network notes. Valanciunas has the ninth-best career rebound percentage (20.56%) in NBA history and the eighth-best defensive rebound percentage (29.05%). He’s also an efficient scorer who likes to set up in the post, giving the Wizards a different look. Valanciunas was acquired from the Pelicans in a sign-and-trade transaction.

Jazz Sign Oscar Tshiebwe To Two-Way Contract

The Jazz have signed forward Oscar Tshiebwe to a two-way contract, according to a team press release. Utah opened up a slot by waiving Taevion Kinsey on Monday, which was confirmed in the press release.

Tshiebwe spent the 2023/24 season on a two-way deal with the Pacers after going undrafted. He appeared in eight NBA games and averaged 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game.

Tshiebwe excelled at the G League level. He was named Rookie of the Year and All-NBA G League First Team after appearing in 23 regular season games (21 starts) for the Indiana Mad Ants and averaging 16.2 points, 16.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 27.2 minutes per contest.

The Pacers had extended a two-way qualifying offer to Tshiebwe, which made him a restricted free agent and gave Indiana the right of first refusal. But all of the Pacers’ two-way slots are filled, so it appears they were willing to let him sign elsewhere.

Tshiebwe played for Indiana’s Summer League squad in Las Vegas last month, averaging 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in five games.

Tshiebwe was the unanimous National Player of the Year and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year for Kentucky as a junior in 2021/22. As a senior in 2022/23, he was a unanimous Second-Team All-America selection and led the nation in rebounding for a second straight season.

Jazz Waive Two-Way Player Taevion Kinsey

The Jazz are waiving two-way player Taevion Kinsey, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. A Jazz press release has confirmed that the move is official.

It’s a tough break for Kinsey, who signed his two-year, two-way deal in early July. Utah had all three of its two-way spots filled, so it now creates an opening to sign another player.

The Jazz’s front office has been busy in recent days. The team officially signed second-round rookie Kyle Filipowski and inked Svi Mykhailiuk to a four-year deal. Terms of Filipowski’s contract haven’t been revealed but he’ll be on a standard deal. Jason Preston and Micah Potter hold the other two-way slots.

Kinsey, 24, went undrafted in 2023 after playing five college seasons at Marshall. As a “super senior” for the Thundering Herd in 2022/23, he averaged 22.1 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.9 RPG and 1.7 SPG on .542/.404/.744 shooting in 32 games (37.8 MPG), earning Sun Belt Player of the Year for his efforts.

A 6’5″ wing, Kinsey signed a training camp deal with Utah last summer and was waived in October before the ’23/24 season began. He wound up signing a 10-day contract with the Jazz in March, but he didn’t appear in a game.

Kinsey spent the majority of his first pro season playing for the Jazz’s NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. In 50 Showcase Cup and regular season games with the Stars (29.6 MPG), he averaged 10.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.1 APG while posting a strong shooting line of .555/.427/.780.

International Notes: NBA Candidates, Besson, Bender, Cannady

Forward Guerschon Yabusele, who recently expressed a desire to return to the NBA, tops Mark Deeks of HoopsHype’s list of 10 players from the 2024 Olympics who deserve a look from NBA teams. Two of Yabusele’s teammates on the French national team — Mathias Lessort (No. 2) and Isaia Cordinier (No. 8) — also made the cut.

Here are a few more international notes:

  • Bucks draft-and-stash prospect Hugo Besson, the No. 58 pick of the 2022 draft, will play for Turkey’s Manisa Buyuksehir Belediye Spor during the 2024/25 season, per Fersu Yahyabeyoglu of Eurobasket.com (hat tip to Keith Smith of Spotrac). The French guard played in Serbia and Italy last season.
  • Former No. 4 overall pick Dragan Bender is rumored to be joining GeVi Napoli in Italy, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Bender suffered major ACL injuries in May 2021 and December 2022 and evidently is still recovering. “Bender is part of the team philosophy we are building,” Napoli athletic director Alessandro Dalla Salda told La Repubblica. “But to get back on top he needs time, so we may sign a player while waiting for his return.” The 26-year-old last played in the NBA in 2019/20.
  • Guard Devin Cannady, who played 13 games with the Magic over two different seasons, has signed with Panionios B.C., the Greek club announced in a press release. It’s the first international stop for the former Princeton star, who played for the NBA G League’s Birmingham Squadron (the Pelicans’ affiliate) in ’23/24.

20 Players Remain Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions

Four players have signed rookie scale extensions so far this offseason.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was the first domino to fall, later being joined by Magic forward Franz Wagner, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, and Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley. All four received five-year, maximum-salary deals containing Rose rule language.

[RELATED: 2024/25 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]

That leaves a total of 20 players who remain eligible for rookie scale extensions, which can be signed up until the day before the start of the regular season. Those 20 players are as follows:

Some players on this list almost certainly won’t sign new contracts this offseason. Guys like Hyland, Duarte, Mitchell, Springer and Williams, for instance, haven’t yet established themselves as reliable rotation players who are worth long-term investments, so it would be pretty surprising if they were extended.

There are plenty of other viable extension candidates on this list though. Of these 20 players, Sengun probably has the strongest case for a lucrative multiyear commitment. The Turkish big man has also publicly expressed his desire to sign a long-term deal. But there has been speculation the Rockets might preserve cap flexibility for 2025 by not extending Sengun or Green, and one report stated both were unlikely to get max offers before the season begins.

Kuminga and Johnson are reportedly looking for max deals, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. While both forwards have flashed tantalizing two-way upside, neither player has a long track record of NBA success. Still, they’re certainly possibilities for nine-figure commitments.

Suggs, Murphy, Thomas and Giddey are among the other players listed who could receive lucrative extensions this offseason — there have been multiple reports stating that extending Murphy is a priority for New Orleans, though the two sides had “differing viewpoints” on the sharpshooter’s value in July.

Kispert, Aldama, Grimes, Moody, Mann, Jackson and Sharpe fall somewhere in the middle. I’d expect at least a couple of them to receive new contracts, but they likely won’t be for as much money.

Typically, after the first wave of slam-dunk rookie scale extension candidates sign their deals in early July, there isn’t a ton of action on this front until we get much closer to the October deadline. But we should expect several more deals to be completed in the fall — in each of the last four offseasons, at least 10 players have inked rookie scale extensions. If that trend continues, at least six of the 20 players above will have new deals in hand by the time the regular season tips off.

Tyrese Haliburton Had “Minor Leg Injury” During Olympics

Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton dealt with a “minor leg injury” and underwent an MRI during the Olympics, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

Haliburton was essentially Team USA’s 12th man during the Olympics in Paris, which concluded on Sunday. He averaged just 8.8 minutes per game in his three appearances; the Americans went 6-0 to claim the gold medal, so the 24-year-old didn’t play at all in three contests, including the semifinal and final.

Haliburton was hampered during the 2023/24 season with a hamstring strain he sustained in January. While he ultimately appeared in 69 games and made the All-NBA Third Team, securing an extension that starts at 30% (instead of 25%) of the salary cap, his effectiveness was clearly diminished post-injury. Haliburton wound up missing his final two postseason games vs. Boston with a hamstring injury as well.

There’s no indication that the leg issue Haliburton was managing during the Olympics is a cause for concern going forward, given Windhorst’s description. Still, it’s a noteworthy event when a player like Haliburton — one of Team USA’s top performers at the 2023 World Cup — undergoes an MRI.

Knicks/Celtics, Wolves/Lakers To Play On Opening Night

The NBA’s opening night schedule will feature home games for the league’s two most accomplished franchises, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Celtics will host the Knicks in the early game, while the Lakers will host the Timberwolves in the late game.

The Celtics, who won their record 18th NBA title in June, will receive their championship rings on opening night, which will take place on Tuesday, October 22. That game will be the first for the new-look Knicks, featuring Mikal Bridges.

The game between the Lakers and Timberwolves will feature several stars who participated in Saturday’s gold medal game in Paris, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers and Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert of the Wolves.

Both games will air on TNT Sports, which will be distributing NBA games for one final year in 2024/25, assuming their lawsuit against the league doesn’t result in a new broadcast rights deal that begins in ’25/26.

The full regular schedule for the 2024/25 NBA season is expected to be released later this week, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. In the meantime, here are a few more notable matchups, courtesy of Charania:

  • The new-look Sixers, led by former MVP Joel Embiid, reigning Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey, and free agent addition Paul George, will host the Bucks on October 23 to open their regular season (Twitter link).
  • The first regular season game at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood will be played on October 23, when the Clippers host the Suns (Twitter link).
  • Klay Thompson and the Mavericks will visit the Warriors on November 12 in Thompson’s first trip back to the Bay Area (Twitter link). That will also be the first game of the in-season tournament (NBA Cup) for both Dallas and Golden State (Twitter link).
  • The NBA Finals rematches between the Celtics and Mavericks will take place on January 25 in Dallas and February 6 in Boston (Twitter link).
  • In case you missed it, 2024’s Christmas Day matchups were reported last week.

Jazz Sign Kyle Filipowski

The Jazz have signed second-round pick Kyle Filipowski to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Filipowski, a 7’0″ forward/center, declared for the draft this spring as an early entrant after averaging 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 30.4 minutes per game across 36 starts in his sophomore year at Duke.

He posted a shooting line of .505/.348/.671 in his final college season for the Blue Devils and was a consensus second-team All-American.

Although he was invited to the green room for the first night of the 2024 draft, Filipowski fell out of the first round and was selected by Utah with the 32nd overall pick on day two. He impressed last month at the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 16.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG in five games (25.3 MPG).

While Filipowski’s contract details aren’t yet known, the Jazz’s announcement indicates he received a standard contract rather than a two-way deal, which was expected. Given his draft slot, a three- or four-year deal with at least a couple guaranteed seasons seems likely.

Filipowski was one of the last 2024 draftees to officially sign a contract, as the Jazz looked to maximize their cap room well into the offseason in case trade opportunities arose. They’ve been in the process of using up that cap space in recent days, renegotiating and extending Lauri Markkanen‘s contract, then officially signing Drew Eubanks and Svi Mykhailiuk.

Utah now has 13 players on standard contracts, with Johnny Juzang‘s reported four-year contract still to be finalized. The team has also filled all three of its two-way slots, so its roster could be almost ready for the regular season.

Contract Details: Mykhailiuk, Eubanks, Swider, Two-Ways

The four-year contract that veteran swingman Svi Mykhailiuk signed with the Jazz only includes $3.5MM in guaranteed money, Hoops Rumors has learned — that $3.5MM is the salary Mykhailiuk will earn in 2024/25.

The second and third years of Mykhailiuk’s deal, worth $3.675MM and $3.85MM respectively, are non-guaranteed, as is his $4.025MM team option for the 2027/28 season. The 27-year-old could earn up to a total of $15.05MM if he plays out the entire contract, but $11.55MM of that money is non-guaranteed.

June 30 represents Mykhailiuk’s annual salary guarantee date, so the Jazz would have to waive him by June 30, 2025 to avoid being on the hook for his full ’25/26 salary. That deadline also applies to each of the following two seasons.

Here are more details on recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

  • Drew Eubanks will earn a $5MM guaranteed salary from the Jazz this season, with a $4.75MM non-guaranteed salary for 2025/26, Hoops Rumors has learned. Both Mykahiliuk and Eubanks were signed using a portion of Utah’s leftover cap room.
  • Cole Swider‘s one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Pacers is worth the minimum salary and includes Exhibit 9 language, Hoops Rumors has learned. It doesn’t feature Exhibit 10 language, which suggests the plan probably isn’t for Swider to join Indiana’s G League team if he’s waived during training camp. The third-year forward vie for a spot on the Pacers’ 15-man regular season roster.
  • The two-way contracts recently signed by Enrique Freeman with the Pacers and Anzejs Pasecniks with the Bucks are each one-year deals, so both players will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025.

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Designated Veteran Contract

The NBA’s maximum salary is determined by a player’s years of NBA experience. Players with between zero and six seasons under their belts are eligible for a starting salary worth up to 25% of the salary cap. That figure increases to 30% for players with seven to nine years of NBA experience, and to 35% for players with 10+ years of service.

However, there are certain scenarios in which a player can achieve a higher maximum salary than his years of service dictate. When a player who would normally qualify for the 30% max becomes eligible for a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap before he gains 10+ years of NBA experience, he can sign a Designated Veteran contract, also known as a “super-max” deal.

A player who has seven or eight years of NBA service with one or two years left on his contract becomes eligible for a Designated Veteran contract extension if he meets the required performance criteria. A Designated Veteran contract can also be signed by a player who is a free agent if he has eight or nine years of service and meets the required performance criteria.

However, a player can’t sign a Designated Veteran deal with a new team — only his current team. Additionally, if he has been traded at any time since his first four years in the NBA or previously changed teams via free agency at any point in his career, he becomes ineligible for such a deal.

That means players like Donovan Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen, and Jalen Brunson would have had no path to becoming eligible for Designated Veteran deals with their current teams, but Brandon Ingram (who was traded during his first four seasons) could become eligible if he remains with the Pelicans and meets the performance criteria.

Speaking of that performance criteria, here’s what it looks like. At least one of the following must be a true for a player to be eligible to sign a Designated Veteran contract:

  • He was named to an All-NBA team in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
  • He was named NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
  • He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.

Given the exclusivity of the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards, players who qualify for a Designated Veteran contract do so most often by earning All-NBA nods.

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was the only player eligible to sign a Designated Veteran contract this offseason. Tatum actually met the performance criteria a year ago by making his second consecutive All-NBA team, but he only had six years of NBA service at the time. He was able to sign his super-max extension this offseason once he registered his seventh year of service.

Tatum was named an All-NBA first-teamer again in 2024, but would have been eligible even if he’d missed out on an All-NBA spot this year, since his nods in 2022 and 2023 ensured he’d made an All-NBA team in at least two of the past three seasons.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic are following in Tatum’s footsteps. Both players have made All-NBA teams in each of the past two seasons but still have just six years of service under their belts. They’ll meet the service time criteria next summer and will be eligible to sign Designated Veteran contract extensions in July 2025 whether or not they earn All-NBA honors in 2024/25.

As outlined above, if the Thunder were to trade Gilgeous-Alexander or the Mavericks were to trade Doncic, they would no longer be super-max eligible. But obviously those 2024 MVP finalists aren’t going anywhere in the next year.

While the Designated Veteran rule allows players with fewer than 10 years of NBA experience to qualify for contracts that begin at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, the “Rose Rule” allows players with fewer than seven years of service to qualify for contracts that begin at 30% of the cap instead of 25%.

Those are technically two separate rules, and we’ve discussed the Rose Rule at greater length in a separate glossary entry. However, they’re closely linked, and both types of contracts are sometimes referred to a “super-max” deals.

Here are a few other rules related to Designated Veteran contracts:

  • Even if a player qualifies for a Designated Veteran contract, his team isn’t obligated to start its extension offer at 35% of the cap. The player is eligible for a salary up to that amount, but the exact amount is still a matter for the two sides to negotiate. For example, after becoming super-max eligible in 2020, Rudy Gobert signed a contract with the Jazz that began at just over 31% of the cap.
  • A Designated Veteran extension can’t exceed six years, including the number of years left on the player’s contract. So if a player signs a Designated Veteran extension when he has two years left on his current contract, he could tack on four new years to that deal.
  • A player signing a Designated Veteran contract as a free agent can’t sign for more than five years.
  • A Designated Veteran extension can only be signed between the end of the July moratorium and the last day before the start of the regular season.
  • If a player signs a Designated Veteran contract, he is ineligible to be traded for one year.
  • Under the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team wasn’t permitted to carry more than two players on Designated Veteran contracts at a time. However, that rule didn’t carry over to the 2023 CBA and that limit no longer applies.

Our list of the players who have signed Designated Veteran contracts since their inception in 2017 can be found right here.


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.

Previous versions of this glossary entry were published in 2018 and 2023.