Central Notes: Pistons Roster, Pistons Outlook, Ball, Haliburton

The Pistons have an open roster spot but that doesn’t mean they will fill it anytime soon, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes. They could sign one of the better remaining free agents on the market — Tyus Jones, Markelle FultzLuke Kennard or Isaac Okoro — but they could just leave the spot open to facilitate a trade where they could acquire more future assets.

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Pistons in the play-in tournament next season? It’s not as far-fetched as it might sound, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. Most of the other Eastern Conference teams who were in the play-in or lottery last season have not improved their rosters, with the possible exception of Miami. The Pistons, meanwhile, have added several solid veteran rotation players who will help them in the short run.
  • Lonzo Ball confirmed that his “first real test” will be next month when he participates in 5-on-5 scrimmages, he said on ‘The WAE Show’ (hat tip to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago). The Bulls guard hasn’t played since Jan. 14, 2022 due to knee issues. Ball will make $21.4MM in the final year of his contract next season.
  • In a GQ profile, Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton told Andrew Greif that his team is being overlooked as a major contender in the East. “All I keep seeing is, ‘Who’s going to win the East? Boston, Milwaukee, New York, or Philly?’” Haliburton said. “It’s like, what are we doing [not being included]? But again, we’re Indiana, people didn’t even know, people didn’t even watch us play until the playoffs. People didn’t watch us play until the second round. But again, that respect comes with winning. So if we want to gain that respect, we just got to keep having success as a team. And it’s coming.”

Nuggets Sign Russell Westbrook To Two-Year Deal

10:11pm: The Nuggets have officially signed Westbrook, according to a team press release.


1:05pm: The Nuggets will sign veteran point guard Russell Westbrook to a two-year contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Denver has long been the expected landing spot for the former MVP, but the details of Westbrook’s new deal hadn’t been reported until now. The 35-year-old earn the minimum salary of $3,303,771 in 2024/25, with a minimum-salary player option worth $3,468,960 for ’25/26. He could become a free agent again in a year if he declines that option.

After joining the Clippers on the buyout market in February 2023, Westbrook spent his first full season with the team in ’23/24, shifting to a bench role following the November acquisition of James Harden. In 68 appearances, the nine-time All-Star averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in a career-low 22.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .454/.273/.688.

Although Westbrook exercised his $4MM+ player option for 2024/25, his camp and the Clippers quickly began working to find a new home for the former UCLA star. The Nuggets, whose star center Nikola Jokic endorsed the pursuit of Westbrook, were immediately identified as the frontrunner but weren’t in a great position to acquire the guard via trade.

Instead, Westbrook was sent to Utah as part of a deal sending Kris Dunn to the Clippers via sign-and-trade. He subsequently agreed to a buyout with the Jazz, clearing the way for him to sign with Denver as a free agent.

Westbrook is on track to serve as Jamal Murray‘s primary backup at the point and will play a significant role next season for a Nuggets team that struggled to find reliable depth outside of its starting five in the playoffs this past spring.

Team USA Notes: Kerr, Embiid, Durant, Booker, Curry

Team USA begins its quest for Olympic gold on Sunday against Serbia. Coach Steve Kerr says it’s time for his star-laden roster to ramp up mentally and physically after close calls against South Sudan and Germany in its last two exhibitions.

“So it’s got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan,” Kerr said, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

After reviewing the recent exhibitions, Kerr wasn’t pleased with the overall effort, Sam Amick of The Athletic adds.

“(It’s) just effort and energy, play after play after play,” Kerr said. “This is different. This is not an 82-game season (like the NBA). They’re not going to play 125 games total with preseason and playoffs and all that. It’s literally six games. And watching the tape, we’re jogging through some possessions, not hitting bodies on box-outs. And so it’s time. It’s time to lock in on that. And as I said, that’s for all of us — coaches and players — to get to that point.”

We have more on Team USA:

  • Joel Embiid commented recently that people may overrate Team USA, asserting that their stars aren’t quite what they used to be. “Those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older,” Embiid said. Kevin Durant agrees with the notion to a certain extent, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “Of course, we’re older and we all have mileage on our bodies,” Durant said. “We figure out ways to be effective, just as Jo has as he’s gone through injuries.”
  • Devin Booker is playing in his second Olympics and Kerr considers him the perfect FIBA player, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic relays. “Book was great in Tokyo,” Kerr said. “He’s the perfect example of a guy who in an NBA game, he’s going to get 20 shots every night. In ’21 in Tokyo, he was more of a defender, ball mover, but did a great job and was one of our key players. That’s why he’s back here. We knew how much we needed him and I’m so impressed with Book’s ability to understand that and recognize the role change, but still hit the big shot and looking forward to a big moment. Book is a perfect FIBA guy.”
  • Durant didn’t play in any exhibition games due to a calf strain, though he has been practicing. His former Golden State teammate Stephen Curry anticipates their old chemistry hasn’t waned. “I think that familiarity only helps us take advantage of this experience,” Curry said, per Vardon.

Jordan Ford Signs With Italian Club

Guard Jordan Ford, who played six games for the Kings last season, has signed with Italy’s Aquila Basket Trento, according to the club (Twitter link).

Ford became an unrestricted free agent when the Kings didn’t tender a qualifying offer to him in June. He played on a two-way contract last season after his training camp deal was upgraded in September.

Ford played for New Orleans’ Summer League team this month. He appeared in five games (three starts), averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest.

He made 24 starts for the G League Stockton Kings last season, averaging 15.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, and 2.8 RPG.

Trey Jemison Claimed Off Waivers By Pelicans

The Pelicans have claimed Trey Jemison off waivers, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. The Grizzlies placed the big man on waivers on Wednesday in order to make room for Jay Huff.

Jemison was on a two-way contract with Memphis. He signed a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies in January, then agreed to a two-year, two-way deal when that contract expired.

He earned regular minutes down the stretch on a Memphis roster hit hard by injuries, averaging 7.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in 23 games (24.9 MPG).

With the free agent loss of Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans has been busy this summer adding other options. The Pelicans signed free agents Daniel Theis and Karlo Matkovic and drafted Yves Missi. Jemison gives them yet another option in the middle.

Jemison, who also played two games with Washinigton last season, went undrafted out of UAB.

New Orleans has two other players —Malcolm Hill and Jamal Cain — signed to two-way deals, so Jemison will fill the third slot.

Arbitration Hearing For Timberwolves’ Ownership Dispute Slated For November

The Timberwolves’ ownership dispute will stretch into next season. An arbitration hearing that would essentially settle the dispute between minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and principal owner Glen Taylor will begin early November, Nick Williams of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

The dispute has been ongoing since the tail end of the regular season. Taylor nixed the previous tiered payment agreement with Lore and Rodriguez, citing a breach of contract. Lore and Rodriguez disputed that characterization, stating that they had the funds necessary to become majority owners but were awaiting NBA approval and should have been entitled to an extension.

The third payment in dispute would increase Lore and Rodriguez’ share from 36% to about 80% and the purchase agreement stipulates that they could buy out Taylor’s remaining 20% stake anytime before March 2025.

The arbitration hearing will last approximately one week, with the ruling from a three-member arbitration panel coming within 30 days, Williams adds. A mediation hearing on May 1 failed to resolve the dispute, automatically moving the issue to arbitration.

If the arbitration panel rules in Taylor’s favor, he’ll retain majority ownership. The panel could also rule Lore and Rodriguez qualified for a 90-day extension, and Taylor must sell them the team or pay monetary damages.

Bucks’ Jon Horst Discusses Trent, Wright, Pistons’ Interest, More

In addition to declaring that the Bucks have no interest in trading starting center Brook Lopez, general manager Jon Horst touched on several more topics in a wide-ranging interview with Eric Nehm of The Athletic, expressing no regrets about last fall’s trade for Damian Lillard and conveying optimism about Milwaukee’s chances of being a title contender in 2024/25.

Asked by Nehm if the Bucks belong in the conversation with the defending champion Celtics and other Eastern Conference contenders like the Sixers and Knicks, Horst said there’s no question Milwaukee is in that tier.

“Yeah. I mean, honestly, it’s just whether or not those other teams belong in the conversation with us,” Horst said. “We’re the winningest team in the league and the conference the last seven or eight years. We still have our place there. We still have the best player in the world. We’ve got two top-75 players (of all-time) as our lead duo. We gotta be healthy. We gotta be lucky. We gotta be good. We’re definitely good enough. The guys are going to put in the right work. Hopefully we’re healthy enough and lucky enough and we’ll see.”

Horst also discussed the Bucks’ cap and tax situation, suggesting that the front office has no concerns about operating over the second tax apron and noting that it wouldn’t be hard to get out of apron territory if ownership wanted to do so. For now though, the goal is championship contention, which means spending well into the tax.

“When you have a team that is as talented as ours — I don’t say this boastfully, I just say this more matter-of-factually — we don’t have a bad contract on our roster,” Horst said. “All of our players are good players, good people on good-to-great contracts. So we can get anywhere at any time we want in the CBA, anywhere from a room team to a second-apron team. I think it’s never an issue for us to go where we want in terms of the CBA limits or aprons or thresholds. But the goal is not that. The goal has been, and will continue to be, to try to figure out how to win, to be the best team and organization in professional sports.”

Here are a few more highlights from Horst’s Q&A, which is worth checking out in full if you’re a subscriber to The Athletic:

On being able to sign Gary Trent Jr. to a minimum-salary contract:

Gary is a legit starting two-guard option that we’re very fortunate to be able to add to our group in a position of need. … He’s an almost 40-percent three-point shooter for his career. … He has a defensive component to his game that I think we can help flourish and grow more in our system. We’ve been able to do that with players, not only grow players offensively, but grow them defensively. And I just think he’s a great fit.

“He didn’t have the market that he probably wanted, but he also wasn’t a minimum player. Gary could have signed for more money elsewhere. He chose us for the opportunity that he thinks that we can give him, but also, he wants to win. So, it says a lot about him that we were able to secure him here in free agency.”

On why the Bucks prioritized Delon Wright in free agency:

“Delon is a really successful, versatile player. We targeted him because he can start at or back up two positions, maybe even three. He’s a big guard. He’s a defensive-minded guard. He’s playoff proven. He’s able to kind of generate turnovers, which is another thing that Gary does also. Both those guys are guys that generate turnovers on the ball and off the ball in the backcourt, something that we struggled with last year and we think helps in the playoffs. He’s capable of playing on the ball in pick-and-roll. He’s capable of playing off the ball as a catch-and-shoot threat from three. He can finish around the rim.

“So, for us, the versatility of Delon being able to play at either backcourt positions as a starter, as a backup, just with his experiences, was an absolute no-brainer. He was a high, high target for us and we were very fortunate that we were able to get him early.”

On the Pistons’ reported interest in talking to Horst about their president of basketball operations job:

“I never spoke to the Pistons. The Bucks didn’t allow me to, but they also expressed why they made that decision and how much they value me and want me here in Milwaukee, so it was pretty quick on my end. When the Pistons came to the Bucks about their interest in me, I had a brief conversation with our ownership group, they told me how they felt and how they were going to approach it and very quickly, our conversation shifted to the team this offseason.

“(Bucks co-owner) Wes (Edens) and I actually ended up talking for 45 minutes about how we were going to have a killer offseason and the types of guys we need to get and how we don’t want to be in this position again, and how much it sucks watching someone else play. We just talked about our team and that honestly was about the depth of the entire Detroit thing between me and the ownership group.”

Spurs Re-Sign David Duke Jr. On Two-Way Deal

3:40pm: The Spurs have officially re-signed Duke to a two-way contract, the team confirmed today in a press release.


1:54pm: Free agent guard David Duke Jr. will return to San Antonio, having agreed to sign a new two-way contract with the Spurs, agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Duke, 24, signed a two-way deal with the Spurs last December and spent the rest of the season on that contract. He appeared in just four games at the NBA level for San Antonio, with all of those appearances coming during the final week of the regular season.

Up until that point, Duke had been playing for the Austin Spurs in the G League. He appeared in 34 regular season contests for the NBAGL club, averaging 19.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 33.3 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .449/.377/.788.

The Spurs issued Duke a qualifying offer at the end of the season, and while they withdrew it to maximize their cap room, they clearly maintained interest in bringing him back. Since the 6’5″ guard spent two seasons in Brooklyn from 2021-23 to start his career, his two-way contract will only cover the 2024/25 season — he wouldn’t be eligible for a two-way deal in ’25/26 once he has four years of NBA service under his belt.

Duke will join Jamaree Bouyea as the Spurs’ two-way players for now. Second-round pick Harrison Ingram is considered the favorite to fill the third open two-way slot.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues NBA; Barkley Listening To ESPN, NBC, Amazon

Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, has filed a lawsuit against the NBA, alleging that the league is in breach of contract after it refused to recognize TNT’s right to match Amazon’s offer for NBA broadcast rights, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN.

The lawsuit was filed in New York Supreme Court. Daniel Wallach of The Athletic (Twitter link) shares a copy of the summons, which states that the NBA has 20 days to respond.

TNT Sports issued a statement confirming it has taken legal action against the NBA (Twitter link via Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com):

“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights. We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms – including TNT and Max.”

According to Holmes, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass responded to the suit by stating, “Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them.”

[RELATED: NBA Announces Details Of Media Deals With Disney, NBC, Amazon]

A longtime broadcasting partner of the NBA, TNT Sports was given some form of matching rights in their current deal with the league. However, we don’t know the exact terms of those rights or how they’d apply in this case, given that Amazon’s agreement with the league will feature different methods of distribution and a different set of games than TNT’s previous deal. The lawsuit could lead to a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the league, either in the form of other NBA rights or financial compensation.

Meanwhile, Charles Barkley – an analyst on TNT’s popular Inside The NBA studio show – issued a statement calling into question whether the NBA was ever negotiating with the network in good faith (Twitter link via Bleacher Report).

“Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance,” Barkley said. “TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off. It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks.”

While Barkley has previously stated that he intends to retire as a broadcaster when TNT’s deal expires after the 2024/25 season, he’s drawing serious interest from the NBA’s other media partners – ESPN/ABC, NBC, and Amazon – according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, who says that both ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are eyeing the entire Inside the NBA panel (Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal).

Speaking on Friday to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and Dan Patrick of The Dan Patrick Show (Twitter video link), Barkley confirmed that he’s been open to pitches from other networks, saying he’d be “stupid” not to listen, especially if TNT doesn’t fully pay out the rest of his 10-year, $210MM contract with the network. However, he said his plan for now is still to retire.

While Marchand’s sources say that one of the league’s other TV/streaming partners could obtain the rights to the Inside the NBA studio show and simply let them continue working out of their current Atlanta studio, Barkley doesn’t believe that Johnson would leave TNT. He said he hasn’t spoken to Smith or O’Neal about the possibility of extending the show beyond 2025 on a new network, telling Marchand that the plan is to “go out with a bang” next season.

Barkley added that he’s not optimistic anything will come of TNT’s lawsuit.

“The NBA clearly wanted to break up with us,” he told Marchand. “I don’t want to be in a relationship where I have to sue somebody to be in it. That makes zero sense. If you have to sue somebody to stay in a relationship, do you think that is a healthy relationship?”

Stein’s Latest: LaVine, Vucevic, Nembhard, Morris, C. Jones, More

While Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic remain trade candidates, it appears increasingly likely that both players will open the 2024/25 season as Bulls, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.

League sources tell Stein that the Bulls are “resigned” to the fact that they’re unlikely to find a deal they like for LaVine before opening night and may have to try to help him rebuild some trade value early in the season.

As for Vucevic, his contract (two years for about $41MM) should be easier to move than LaVine’s, but the expectation is that it will be easier for Chicago to find a deal sometime after the season begins than before that, Stein explains.

Here are a few more items from within Stein’s latest look around the NBA:

  • According to Stein’s sources, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard was only willing to accept a three-year extension from Indiana rather than a four-year deal. The contract will put Nembhard in position to sign his next contract in 2028 when he’s 28 and presumably right in his prime.
  • The Mavericks remain committed to re-signing forward Markieff Morris, even after filling their 15-man roster by adding Spencer Dinwiddie, Stein reports. As Stein observes, A.J. Lawson is the most vulnerable of the 15 players on standard contracts, since his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed.
  • Former NBA guard Carlik Jones, a key member of the South Sudan Olympic team, is committed to playing for KK Partizan next season after not exercising his NBA out by the July 25 deadline, according to Stein, who notes that Donta Hall‘s new two-year contract with Baskonia has an NBA out after the 2024/25 season.
  • Evan Fournier and Patty Mills, who finished last season on NBA rosters but don’t have contracts for 2024/25, are among the notable free agents to watch at the Olympics, according to Stein. Stein is also curious about whether a strong showing from Nets guard Dennis Schröder in Paris could help boost his trade value as the German enters a contract year.