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Nets Notes: Giles, Whitehead, Bridges, Johnson

October 23rd, 2023 at 10:47am CST by Arthur Hill

Harry Giles was overcome with emotion when he learned that his battle to make an NBA roster was successful, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 25-year forward has undergone multiple knee surgeries since high school and hasn’t played in the league for two years.

Fighting back from a torn ACL that sidelined him for all of last season, Giles auditioned for several teams this summer before landing an Exhibit 9 contract with the Nets. That earned him an invitation to training camp and the chance to earn a roster spot, and he wasn’t sure that he did until after Brooklyn’s final preseason game. He was in the middle of a workout when general manager Sean Marks broke the news, and Giles had to fight back tears so he could finish.

“Oh, man, it was crazy, bro. I called my mom when I got to the room. I wanted to cry when I first found out, but I was around so many people and I was still lifting,” Giles said. “So I was trying to focus on my lift. I was sweating out hard and I was trying to get through the day. I was still kind of hyped about myself. So once I got to the room, I just laid on the bed and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’

“My mom was like ‘Has it hit you yet?’ I’m like, ‘Nah, it still ain’t hit me. It still hasn’t hit me. I still feel like I’m in camp trying to make the team. That’s a good thing: keep me in that mindset. But I’m happy to be here and this is amazing.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

  • First-round pick Dariq Whitehead, who is recovering from offseason foot surgery, has started playing two-on-two against teammates and assistant coaches, Lewis adds in the same story. “It’s reads, so you’re having him react in a setting that is not controlled,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “You just keep going those uncontrollable settings for him to get him back to five-on-five.”
  • Vaughn is installing more plays to create open shots for Mikal Bridges, Lewis adds in a separate story for the Post. Bridges shot just 36.6% during the preseason while mainly being used in isolation sets. Vaughn said isolation made sense when the team had Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but he plans to take a different approach to maximize the skills of Bridges and Cameron Johnson. “We don’t want to put Mikal in pick-and-roll every single time just to grow that part of his game because I’ll always do what’s best for the group,” Vaughn explained. “Now we can grow his game by having sets that put him in position where he’s playing pick-and-roll. … So it’s going to really dictate who’s on the floor of how we grow our guys and challenge them. Grab hold to what we can do and do that well.”
  • In a recent appearance on the “2nd Wind” podcast, Johnson talked about having more freedom to create in the Nets’ offense than he did during his time with Phoenix (hat tip to USA Today).
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Contract, Roster Deadlines Loom For NBA Teams

October 23rd, 2023 at 6:56am CST by Luke Adams

We’re one day away from the start of the NBA’s 2023/24 regular season, making Monday the last day of the 2023 offseason. Today serves as the deadline for a number of contract- and roster-related decisions around the league. Here are the most important ones:

Rookie Scale Extensions

A total of 27 players entered the offseason eligible for rookie scale extensions.

Eight of those players – LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Desmond Bane, Devin Vassell, Isaiah Stewart, Zeke Nnaji, and Payton Pritchard – have already signed new deals, and a ninth (Deni Avdija) has agreed to an extension that will be officially completed today.

That leaves the following 18 players eligible to sign rookie scale extensions on Monday:

The majority of these guys won’t sign new deals until the 2024 offseason, when they’re eligible for restricted free agency. But it would be a surprise if at least a couple more players from this list don’t finalize rookie scale extensions today.

Bey, Green, McDaniels, Okongwu, and Quickley are some of the best candidates. Maxey would be in that group too, but it sounds like the Sixers will wait until 2024 to lock him up in order to maximize their cap flexibility next offseason.

The deadline for rookie scale extensions is at 5:00 pm Central time.

Certain Veteran Contract Extensions

A veteran player who signed his current contract at least two years ago (or three years ago if it was a five-year deal) is eligible to sign an extension. That means many veterans around the NBA are eligible to sign contract extensions today, but that number will significantly drop as of tomorrow.

Once the regular season begins, only veterans in the final year of their contracts can sign extensions — a player who has multiple years remaining is no longer extension-eligible until the following offseason.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Veteran Contract Extension]

Let’s use the Nets as an example. Ben Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Royce O’Neale are all eligible for extensions right now, but Dinwiddie and O’Neale are on expiring deals while Simmons is not. That means Dinwiddie and O’Neale will be able to sign extensions anytime between now and June 30, 2024, but Simmons’ eligibility window will close after Monday and won’t reopen until next July.

An extension-eligible veteran who has a player option for 2024/25 could still sign a new deal later in the ’23/24 league year, but he’d have to eliminate that option to do so. Picking up the option would make him ineligible to complete an extension between Tuesday and the start of the ’24/25 league year, since it would turn his contract into a multiyear deal, not an expiring one.

With the help of information from Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link), here are the 21 players who have a Monday deadline to sign a veteran extension if they want to lock in a new deal before next July:

A few of these players won’t sign extensions this year because they would qualify for more years and more money if they wait until next offseason.

That group includes Adebayo, Fox, Ingram, and Murray, who each could qualify for a super-max extension with an All-NBA berth (or MVP or Defensive Player of the Year award) in 2023/24. It also includes Tatum, who has already met the performance criteria for a 2024 super-max deal, as well as Antetokounmpo and Mitchell.

The deadline for veteran extensions for players on non-expiring contracts is at 10:59 pm CT tonight.

Regular Season Rosters

Most teams around the NBA finalized their roster cuts on Saturday for financial reasons, as we explained over the weekend. However, today is the official deadline to reduce offseason rosters to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts (plus three on two-way contracts).

While it’s certainly possible there will be some additional roster shuffling today as teams tweak their back-end roster spots or fill two-way openings, only five teams – the Rockets, Sixers, Suns, Spurs, and Wizards – absolutely have to make moves, as we detailed on Sunday.

The Suns are expected to waive Keon Johnson to set their regular season roster, while the Spurs seem likely to convert Charles Bediako‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal. Philadelphia has 16 players on standard contracts and will need to make just one cut, while multiple moves will be required for Houston and Washington, who still have 17 players on their standard rosters.

These roster moves are due by 4:00 pm CT.

The final day of the offseason is also the last day for teams to convert Exhibit 10 contracts into two-way deals. Daishen Nix, Justin Minaya, Javonte Smart, Cole Swider, Dexter Dennis, Greg Brown, Marques Bolden, Charlie Brown, Jacob Toppin, and Trevelin Queen were all converted in recent days.

It appears that there are just three remaining candidates to have their Exhibit 10 deals converted to two-ways: Stanley Umude (Pistons), Jeenathan Williams (Rockets), and Bediako (Spurs).

Detroit still has an open spot on its 15-man roster, so the club also has the option of leaving Umude in that spot, converting his Exhibit 10 deal to a minimum-salary standard contract rather than a two-way. As for the Rockets, all three of their two-way slots are full, so they’d have to waive either Trevor Hudgins, Darius Days, or Jermaine Samuels to convert Williams.

Finally, Monday is the last day for a free agent to be signed-and-traded. But there’s zero indication that any sign-and-trades are in the works.

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Spurs Sign Zach Collins To Two-Year Extension

October 22nd, 2023 at 10:35pm CST by Luke Adams

10:35pm: The Spurs have confirmed the extension through a press statement.

12:09pm: The Spurs and big man Zach Collins have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will be worth $35MM, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed, with no second-year player or team option, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

Collins, who will turn 26 next month, is coming off his healthiest season in four years. Appearing in 63 games (26 starts) for San Antonio in 2022/23, he averaged 11.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 22.9 minutes per game, posting a solid shooting line of .518/.374/.761.

The 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Collins flashed some promise early in his career in Portland, but saw his career derailed by ankle injuries, which limited him to 11 games in 2019/20 and sidelined him for the entire ’20/21 season.

When Collins signed with the Spurs as a free agent in 2021, he received a three-year, $22MM contract, but it was only fully guaranteed for one full season, with a partial guarantee in year two and a non-guaranteed third year. The former Gonzaga standout only played in 28 games in his first season in San Antonio, but ’22/23 was the best season of his career, putting him in position to become part of the team’s future beyond his current contract.

Collins projects to be part of the Spurs’ starting lineup alongside Victor Wembanyama this fall, as the club looks to reduce the wear and tear on its prized rookie by having him play at power forward instead of center.

As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype observes (via Twitter), San Antonio initially projected to have upwards of $60MM in cap room in the summer of 2024, but have now dedicated more than half that space to new contracts for Collins and Devin Vassell, who signed a five-year, $135MM rookie scale extension earlier this month.

The exact terms of Collins’ extension aren’t yet known, but it sounds like the Spurs will give him the maximum possible veteran extension for a player earning less than the NBA’s estimated average salary ($11,958,000). The veteran center is eligible to receive a starting salary worth 40% of that figure in his new deal, with an 8% raise in year two — those terms would put him in line to earn approximately $34.82MM on the extension after making $7.7MM in 2023/24.

Collins’ extension will make him ineligible to be traded for six months, Gozlan notes, so the Spurs won’t be able to move him until the 2024 offseason.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks suggested on the latest episode of The Lowe Post podcast that a deal for Collins could be imminent. Lowe advised keeping an eye on the Spurs center as a potential veteran extension candidate, and Marks responded by saying he had heard that rumor “multiple times.”

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Bucks Notes: Middleton, Payne, Beauchamp, Stotts

October 22nd, 2023 at 8:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Bucks forward Khris Middleton, who recently signed a lucrative new three-year contract to remain in Milwaukee, suited up for his lone game of the preseason against the Grizzlies on Friday. Eric Nehm of The Athletic takes a look at the three-time All-Star’s performance.

The 6’7″ vet played scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting across 12 minutes of play, though he did dish out five dimes.

“Felt like I was myself out there,” Middleton said. “Now I just gotta get used to different spots on the floor, the rhythm of the offense (and) the defensive side, too, moving my feet a little bit better. All in all, I thought it was a great night.”

There’s more out of Milwaukee:

  • New Bucks reserve point guard Cameron Payne exited Milwaukee’s preseason finale with a right thigh contusion, the club’s PR team has announced (Twitter link). Payne’s status for the team’s regular season opener is unclear.
  • Second-year Bucks forward MarJon Beauchamp is getting a rave review from one very important voice, writes Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Two-time MVP power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo believes that the Yakima Valley College alum flashed plenty of two-way potential with the team. “Giannis just told me, you have to have that aggressive mentality every time,” Beauchamp said. “Especially on a good team like this … my confidence, it’s up and down. But I heard from the big dog now. I got to stay aggressive. I got to keep working.”
  • Former assistant coach Terry Stotts abruptly departed the Bucks bench just days ahead of the club’s season opener. Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com writes that Stotts, who served as the head coach for the Trail Blazers from 2012-21, was expected to be a major contributor to Milwaukee under first-time head coach Adrian Griffin. “It’s not like Boston dropping [Ime] Udoka last year and putting in [Joe] Mazzulla, but Stotts was supposed to have a big role with [the Bucks’] offense,” a source told Bulpett. “It seemed like he was having trouble adjusting to being an assistant again. He was out for two years, he doesn’t need the money. … Maybe it was just a thing where he just wasn’t feeling it.”
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Raptors Sign, Waive Omari Moore

October 22nd, 2023 at 7:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

7:58pm: The Raptors officially signed and waived Moore, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

11:17am: Omari Moore will be signed and waived by the Raptors as the last Exhibit 10 player for their G League affiliate, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

Because the move will occur today rather than Saturday, Moore will receive one day of salary while being on waivers for the first day of the regular season, Murphy adds. That will push the team about $12K closer to the luxury tax, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 23-year-old shooting guard was waived by Milwaukee on Wednesday. He signed a two-way contract with the Bucks in July after going undrafted out of San Jose State.

The Exhibit 10 contract gives Moore an opportunity to earn a bonus worth up to $75K if he spends at least 60 days with Raptors 905.

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Pelicans Claim Matt Ryan Off Waivers

October 22nd, 2023 at 6:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

6:37pm: The acquisition of Ryan is now official, per a Pelicans tweet.

4:21pm: Swingman Matt Ryan has been claimed off waivers by the Pelicans, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ryan, who went undrafted out of Chattanooga in 2020, split his 2022/23 season between the Lakers and Timberwolves. The 26-year-old managed to secure a standard roster spot to start the year with the Lakers, but was cut after appearing in just 12 contests with the club.

Ryan quickly agreed to a two-way deal with Minnesota, but played sparingly for the Timberwolves as well. At the NBA level last year, he averaged 3.6 PPG on . 370/.381/.833 shooting splits, 0.8 RPG and 0.5 APG in 34 total games.

Minnesota issued a two-way qualifying offer to Ryan in June, making him a restricted free agent, and he eventually signed that QO. However, he didn’t claim a regular season roster spot and was waived by the Wolves on Friday.

The Pelicans will take on Ryan’s one-year, two-way contract, and won’t have to make a corresponding roster move, since they had an open two-way slot. Ryan joins Dereon Seabron and Kaiser Gates as New Orleans’ two-way players.

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Pacific Notes: Hachimura, Lyles, Kuminga, Moody, Little

October 22nd, 2023 at 6:22pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After having announced that Taurean Prince would serve as the Lakers’ fifth starter, head coach Darvin Ham told reporters that he feels power forward Rui Hachimura will give the team more on the offensive end as a reserve, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Hachimura primarily came off the bench upon being flipped to the club in January. His offensive output was somewhat erratic during the regular season, but he put on a superlative shooting performance in the playoffs. The 6’8″ big man out of Gonzaga averaged 12.2 PPG on .557/.487/.882 shooting splits across 16 playoff games. He subsequently inked a lucrative new three-year, $51MM deal to remain in Los Angeles earlier this summer.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • Imaging on the injured left calf of Kings big man Trey Lyles indicated a mild strain, per James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento (Twitter link). Ham adds that the team is hopeful Lyles will be back soon, though he will be sidelined for at least a few days.
  • After having survived the Warriors’ purging of some key young players, third-year lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are looking to have big seasons, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Both have performed well in the preseason for Golden State. “I’ve got to cut the turnovers down a little bit,” Kuminga said. “I’m working on it and watching film. We’re supposed to watch film with the coaches about the turnovers.”
  • Thanks especially to his defensive fluidity, newly acquired Suns swingman Nassir Little has already impressed during his first preseason in Phoenix, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “You can put him on the team’s best player at multiple positions,” head coach Frank Vogel said. Vogel is hopeful Little can also contribute as a shooter. The 6’5″ forward connected on a career-high 36.7% on 2.9 looks per game from long range in 2022/23.
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Zeke Nnaji Gets Four-Year, $32MM Extension From Nuggets

October 22nd, 2023 at 5:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

OCTOBER 22: The signing is now official, per a Denver press release.

OCTOBER 21: Zeke Nnaji has agreed to a four-year, $32MM extension with the Nuggets, agent Adam Pensack tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The new contract includes a player option for the final season, Wojnarowski adds. Nnaji will earn $4,306,281 this year before the extension begins in 2024/25.

A 22-year-old power forward, Nnaji was selected with the 22nd pick in the 2020 draft. He has become a valuable reserve for the defending champions, averaging 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 53 games last season while shooting 56.1% from the field.

Nnaji was on the court for 13.7 minutes per game in 2022/23, and he’s expected to see more playing time during the upcoming season after the loss of Jeff Green and Thomas Bryant in free agency.

Monday is the last day that teams can sign eligible players to rookie scale extensions. Those who don’t reach new agreements will become restricted free agents next summer.

[RELATED: Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions In 2023]

Nnaji is the eighth player to agree to a rookie scale extension this year, joining LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Desmond Bane, Devin Vassell, Isaiah Stewart, and Payton Pritchard.

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Kings Pick Up 2024/25 Options On Murray, Mitchell, Duarte

October 22nd, 2023 at 4:40pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 22: Sacramento has officially announced that it has exercised its team options on Murray, Mitchel and Duarte.

OCTOBER 21: The Kings are exercising their 2024/25 rookie scale team options on forward Keegan Murray, guard Davion Mitchell, and swingman Chris Duarte, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Murray’s third-year option will pay him $8,809,560 in ’24/25. It was a lock to be picked up after the fourth overall pick made the All-Rookie first team, averaging 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per night with a .411 3PT% last season as a full-time starter for the West’s No. 3 seed.

The fourth-year options for Mitchell and Duarte in ’24/25 will be worth $6,451,077 and $5,893,768, respectively.

The No. 9 overall pick in 2021, Mitchell was a rotation player off the bench for Sacramento last season, averaging 5.6 PPG and 2.3 APG in 80 games (18.1 MPG). He’s known more for his defensive abilities than his contributions on offense.

Duarte was acquired from the Pacers in an offseason trade and is expected to play a role on the wing for the Kings this season. He struggled with his shot and battled injuries last season, but showed promise as a two-way wing as a rookie in 2021/22 when he averaged 13.1 PPG with a .369 3PT%.

The Kings will have to exercise their fourth-year option on Murray for 2025/26 (worth about $11.1MM) by next October 31. Mitchell and Duarte are now on track to become eligible for rookie scale extensions next summer.

We’re tracking all of the 2024/25 rookie scale team option decisions right here.

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Extension Rumors: McDaniels, P. Williams, Bey, Mann, J. Green

October 22nd, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The five-year deal that Devin Vassell signed with San Antonio, which will be worth at least $135MM, plus incentives, threw a “grenade” into some other rookie scale extension negotiations around the NBA, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast.

However, even before word of Vassell’s extension broke, Lowe had heard that Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels was seeking a “large amount of money” on a potential new deal with Minnesota. Lowe believes that McDaniels is in position to command a significant payday.

“If I’m Jaden McDaniels, I’m saying, ‘That dude (Vassell) got ($135MM+) playing 38 games on a s—t team with no stakes?'” Lowe said. “‘I didn’t average 18-and-a-half (points) per game, but I shot it well from three. I’m already an All-Defense-level player. You guys – Minnesota, all you people I’m negotiating with, the brass – expressed outrage that I didn’t make an All-Defensive team, so you obviously agree that I’m one of the 10 best defensive players in the NBA.

“Yeah, I punched a wall, sorry. (But) I’m essential to your team in a critical two- or three-year period. I’m a winning three-and-D player, and watch me do a little bit more with the ball this year. Pay up. Pay up.'”

While Lowe thinks that McDaniels would be warranted in seeking an annual salary of at least $30MM per year, his ESPN colleague Bobby Marks suggested that an extension worth in the neighborhood of $134MM over five years (just below Vassell’s deal) might make sense for both the player and the team.

Here are a few more notes on possible extension candidates around the NBA:

  • Bulls forward Patrick Williams, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension, is one player whose asking price may be influenced by Vassell’s new contract, according to Lowe. “I’m hearing Patrick Williams wants big numbers. Like, starts with a two and isn’t two-zero kind of stuff,” Lowe said, expressing skepticism that Chicago will go anywhere near that high for the forward. “… If that ends up being true and the Vassell deal ends up being the comp that his agents go to – which is what I would do if I were them – that’s a lot of cheese. Go to restricted free agency and get it.”
  • Here’s what Lowe had to say on the Hawks‘ rookie scale extension negotiations with forward Saddiq Bey: “$18 to $20 (million per year) is an interesting conversation with Saddiq Bey, because it’s enough above the mid-level that he’s got to think about it. I’ve heard those negotiations have not been going great. I don’t think Atlanta’s gotten to that level yet.”
  • Terance Mann, who is in the first season of a two-year, $22MM extension he signed with the Clippers in 2021, will be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, but he told reporters on Saturday that a preseason extension is “not happening” (Twitter link via Justin Russo). Mann will be extension-eligible again next offseason, so there’s no rush for either side to get something done now. Of course, it’s also worth noting that the 27-year-old – whose inclusion has been a sticking point in the James Harden trade talks between L.A. and Philadelphia – would be ineligible to be dealt this season if he signs an extension with a raise exceeding 5%.
  • The Mavericks and wing Josh Green continue to discuss a possible rookie scale extension ahead of Monday’s deadline, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
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