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Real Madrid Hoping To Sign Cedi Osman

September 2nd, 2024 at 10:36am CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent forward Cedi Osman has become a priority for Real Madrid, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.

The 29-year-old shooting specialist remains unsigned after playing for the Spurs last season. With limited NBA roster spots available as training camps get set to open later this month, Osman may have to look overseas for his next opportunity.

Real Madrid needs to find a replacement for Guerschon Yabusele, who exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and signed with the Sixers following an impressive performance in the Olympics. The Spanish team also lost Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez to retirement.

Former NBA player Semi Ojeleye, who spent last season with Valencia in Spain, is another possibility for Real Madrid, Maggi adds. He also states that Osman could get an offer from Anadolu Efes in his native Turkey.

Osman played for Efes from 2011-17 before coming to the NBA. He also has extensive experience with the Turkish national team.

He was selected by Minnesota with the 31st pick in the 2015 draft was and traded to Cleveland on draft night. He spent six years with the Cavaliers before being shipped to San Antonio last summer in a three-team deal.

Osman had a reduced role with the Spurs as one of the few veterans on a rebuilding team. He averaged 6.8 points per game in 17.6 minutes per night, his lowest totals in both categories since his rookie season. With 15 players already holding guaranteed contracts, there was no room for Osman to return to San Antonio.

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Southeast Notes: Young, Heat’s Expectations, Smith, Bogdanovic

September 1st, 2024 at 7:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hawks have already traded away Dejounte Murray. Is it possible they’d move his backcourt partner? That’s not likely, but he could be looking at a new contract next offseason.

Trae Young is entering the third year of a five-year max contract, which includes a player option. He’ll be eligible for an extension next summer. Right now, Young’s trade value isn’t as high as many might expect, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst in the latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Hoops Hype).

“I’m not sure that Trae Young’s value is as high as they’d like it to be. So this is a real pivotal year as you say for Trae Young,” Windhorst said. “Number one: after this season he can extend his contract and in the current environment first off we know that he’s on the ‘fun max’, we know the next contract is ‘stress max’ time. It’s been dubbed the ‘stress max’ because it affects both sides. Sometimes it’s the stress on the team whether they can get the player to sign and sometimes it’s stress on the player about whether he can get that second max.

“In this environment – where under the new rules, you’ve got to watch the dollars being spent, especially when you get to the 30 percent part of the max – Trae is going to have to have a big year, even if it’s to stay in Atlanta and sign a max deal.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Perhaps it’s time for the Heat to look at the upcoming season with somewhat reduced expectations compared to previous seasons, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Avoiding the play-in tournament and winning at least one playoff series could rank as more reasonable goals than expecting to make a run to the Finals, given the current pecking order in the East, Winderman suggests.
  • Dru Smith currently holds one of the Heat‘s three tw0-way deals but there’s no assurances he’ll retain that contract, Winderman notes. Smith continues to recover from a knee injury and the team could create an open competition during training camp as they evaluate Smith’s status ahead of the Oct. 23 regular-season opener.
  • Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic believes Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic can play into his late 30s, Eurohoops.net relays from a Luka i Kuzma podcast. Rajakovic notes Bogdanovic is in excellent shape. “I think he can play in the NBA for another 6-7 years without any problems. I have a hard time preparing for the matches we will play against him,” Rajokovic said. “He always has a smile on his face, he enjoys playing basketball very much. I am his fan.”
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Eastern Notes: McConnell, Nets, Cuban, Brunson, Cavs

September 1st, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

T.J. McConnell‘s agreed-upon four-year, $45MM extension, which doesn’t kick in until the 2025/26, could impact the Pacers’ upcoming decisions regarding Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin, according to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.

The McConnell and Andrew Nembhard (three-year, $58.6MM) extensions will put the Pacers closer to the luxury tax threshold and the prohibitive tax aprons going forward. Turner would become an unrestricted free agent without an extension before July 2025, while Mathurin will be eligible for a rookie scale extension at that time.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Nets could dictate next summer’s free agency and trade markets, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. They could open up as much as $70MM in cap space, plus they could control as many as four first-round picks in a loaded draft. The Nets also have the league’s second-biggest trade exception at $23.3MM.
  • Mavericks former majority owner Mark Cuban apologized to Jalen Brunson for a perceived jab at the Knicks guard over Brunson’s 2022 free agency, Peter Botte of the New York Post relays. The exchange between Cuban and Brunson occurred during The Roommates podcast (video link). Cuban said in April 2023 that negotiations to retain Brunson “went south, when (father Rick Brunson) took over, or the parents took over.” Brunson signed with the Knicks shortly after they hired his father as an assistant coach. “The only thing that I … didn’t like about the whole situation was when Mark said, ‘When the parents got involved, that’s when things got messy,’” Brunson said. “So that was the one thing that I was like, I kind of was like, ‘Damn that was a little jab.’” Cuban offered the following reply: “I apologize, if it put you in a certain way, that wasn’t the intention. But it was hard to deal with. It was a unique negotiation in a lot of different ways.”
  • The Cavaliers will hold their first week of training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., according to a team press release. Cleveland will become the first NBA team to hold training camp at IMG Academy. It will also be the Cavaliers’ first remote training camp since preparing for the 2004/05 season at Capital University in Columbus, OH.
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Community Shootaround: Who Can Take Down Boston In The East?

September 1st, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics seem well-positioned to repeat as NBA champions in 2024/25.

After posting a league-best 64-18 regular season record, Boston blitzed the competition in the playoffs, going 16-3 en route to the franchise’s record 18th championship.

The reigning champs have retained all of their top rotation pieces, extending Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser this summer. In fact, 12 of Boston’s top 13 players from its 2023/24 vintage are back on this year’s roster. The only exception? Free agent forward Oshae Brissett has yet to sign anywhere, but has alluded to a possible Celtics return.

With a focus on vanquishing Boston, several other Eastern Conference contenders retooled significantly during the offseason.

The Sixers are of course the headliners of the offseason, having almost completely reconfigured their roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Although Paul George was the big addition on a four-year, $211.6MM deal, Philadelphia president Daryl Morey also made some savvy role player signings, including forward Caleb Martin. But both Embiid and George have had some uniquely underwhelming postseason performances in recent years, and both are on the wrong side of 30 with growing injury histories. Can they keep it together in the playoffs when it matters most?

Last year’s No. 2 seed, the Knicks, saw their playoff run hampered by escalating injuries to much of their rotation. Although New York lost starting center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder in free agency, the team made its own splash with a blockbuster trade for former All-Defensive swingman Mikal Bridges, acquiring him from the Nets.

Despite frequent trade rumors, the biggest offseason change for Cavaliers happened on their bench. Cleveland president Koby Altman jettisoned now-former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after two consecutive playoff seasons as a top-four seed, replacing him with former Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson. The team is hoping for internal development from its four stars and more cohesion out of its other pieces.

As the No. 3 seed heading into the playoffs, the Bucks may have been upset by an Eastern Conference Finals-bound Pacers squad in the first round. But Milwaukee has a key asset Indiana does not: All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, still very much in his prime. After trading to acquire All-Star point guard Damian Lillard late in the 2023 offseason, Milwaukee struggled to build out its depth around a pricey top six and underwent a mid-season coaching change. This year, however, the Bucks added several ring-chasing veterans on below-market deals. Will it be enough to get them deep into the playoffs again?

Indiana, to its credit, played the hand it was dealt, riding some injury luck to its first East Finals appearance in a decade. After an underwhelming Olympics run, wherein he did not play in Team USA’s gold medal game, could All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton be due for a leap? Could newly re-signed forward Pascal Siakam develop more chemistry with the team’s longer-tenured stars after his first full offseason in Indiana?

We want to know what you think. Can anyone among the aforementioned crop best Boston and emerge out of the East? Will a spoiler with present talent and the assets to make a trade — perhaps the Magic or Heat — make a surprise run? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Sixers Sign Judah Mintz To Exhibit 10 Contract

September 1st, 2024 at 2:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Undrafted free agent rookie guard Judah Mintz has signed an Exhibit 10 training camp contract with the Sixers, the team announced today in a press release.

A former All-ACC Second Teamer during his two-year tenure at Syracuse, the 6’3″ guard posted averages of 18.8 points, 4.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game last season, with a shooting line of .438/.282/.765.

Former Rice forward Max Fiedler is the other player currently on an Exhibit 10 deal in Philadelphia. All three of the Sixers’ two-way contract slots are occupied at present, by Justin Edwards, David Jones and Jeff Dowtin. Thirteen players are currently signed to guaranteed standard roster spots, with a 14th, shooting guard Ricky Council IV, inked to a non-guaranteed deal.

It’s possible that, should Mintz or Fiedler impress in training camp, the Sixers could waive one of the current two-way signings and convert either player to a two-way deal. However, it’s more likely that they’ll become affiliate players for the Delaware Blue Coats, Philadelphia’s G League affiliate.

If an Exhibit 10 signee is waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s NBAGL affiliate, he can earn a bonus worth up to $77.5K.

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Northwest Notes: Westbrook, Stojakovic, Jokic, Sexton

September 1st, 2024 at 1:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke recently discussed the team’s decision to sign former league MVP Russell Westbrook to a two-year deal, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post relays.

As Durando notes, Westbrook is on track to play for his fifth team in six years. In a reduced role as a reserve for the Clippers last season, the 35-year-old averaged a career-low 11.1 points and 4.5 assists, along with 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals, across 22.5 minutes per game.

“I got a chance to meet him for the first time right after he signed, and as I said to him, I’m very grateful that he’s on this side,” Kroenke said. “Because I’ve watched him kind of tear our hearts out for so many years in Oklahoma City, among other places. So he’ll be a really good person for us to have, both on and off the court, with some of the young guys who we’re expecting to take bigger roles this year. Russ has seen it all, in and around the NBA, so he’s gonna be a big part of who we are both in the locker room and on the court.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • Nuggets three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic remained underappreciated in his home country prior to this year’s Olympics, according to assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic, who suggested that Serbia’s bronze medal helped boost Jokic’s stock even higher. “Generally, the first thing I notice is that our people weren’t aware of how great a basketball player Nikola is, how good he is,” Stojakovic said in an interview with Milun Nesovic of Meridian Sport (hat tip to Eurohoops.net for the translation). “Simply, if you don’t win something with the national team, you’re not valued as much as those who have, regardless of your success elsewhere. Nikola did win silver with Serbia in Rio, but he didn’t have as significant a role as he (did in Paris). My opinion—people are only now beginning to realize how great a player he is.”
  • Jazz point guard Collin Sexton recently asserted that he is a top-10 player at his position and is capable of breaking into the top five. “I put myself against anybody,” Sexton said on the “It Is What It Is” podcast with hosts Cam’ron, Ma$e and Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson (YouTube video link). “At the end of the day, I don’t back down from nobody. I got a different type of chip on my shoulder. I got a different type of grind. When I step between those lines, it’s me against you.” Last season with the 31-51 Jazz, Sexton averaged 18.7 points per game on a .487/.394/.859 shooting line, chipping in 4.9 assists per contest.
  • In case you missed it, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was voted the favorite to be named 2024/25 league MVP in a poll of NBA coaches and executives. Last year, the 6’6″ All-Star finished second in MVP voting to Jokic.
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International Notes: Duval, Inglis, Tinkle

September 1st, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA guard Trevon Duval has signed with Salah BC, a team based in Azerbaijan that will compete in the qualification round of the upcoming Basketball Champions League (BCL), as Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays.

A former top high school recruit who played one college season at Duke, Duval went undrafted in 2018. He spent most of the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Bucks, appearing in three NBA games.

Duval has spent most of his professional career in the NBA G League, playing for the Wisconsin Herd, Iowa Wolves and Grand Rapids Gold. The 26-year-old played in Turkey last season with Manisa Basket, Skerletic notes.

Here are a couple more international notes:

  • French forward Damien Inglis has signed with the Yokohama B-Corsairs, the Japanese team announced in a press release. The 31st pick of the 2014 draft, Inglis spent two NBA seasons with the Bucks from 2014-16. While his NBA stint was brief, the 29-year-old has enjoyed a long career in Europe, playing for teams in France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. Last season with Valencia Basket, he averaged 8.2 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 32 EuroLeague games (20.5 MPG). This is Inglis’ first stint in Japan.
  • Former Oregon State star Tres Tinkle will be heading to Turkey for the ’24/25 campaign, having signed with Darussafaka (Twitter link). A 6’7″ forward, Tinkle signed Exhibit 10 deals with the Lakers and Raptors in 2020, ultimately playing for the G League’s Raptors 905 during the ’20/21 season. He has spent the past three seasons playing for clubs in Italy, France and Spain, respectively.
  • In case you missed it, guard Saben Lee and center Omer Yurtseven have signed international contracts in recent days. Both players played for NBA teams last season.
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Two 2024 Draft Picks Remain Unsigned

September 1st, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Rory Maher

Of the 58 players who were selected in June’s draft, 54 have signed their first NBA contracts since the start of July. As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:

Two second-round picks — Juan Nunez (No. 36) and Melvin Ajinca (No. 51) — will continue their professional careers in Europe. Their draft rights are controlled by the Spurs and Mavericks, respectively.

That leaves two players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:

The Hawks‘ plans for Djurisic remain unclear. The 20-year-old sustained a left foot fracture during a Summer League game in July; the injury required surgery, with another update on his status slated for November. That means he is expected to miss the beginning of the 2024/25 regular season, which opens in late October.

Atlanta has 15 players signed to guaranteed standard contracts, and all three of the team’s two-way spots are currently filled. It’s possible the Hawks could waive one of their two-way players to create room for Djurisic, but there are other possibilities, both in North America and overseas.

When our Luke Adams wrote about Djurisic last month, he wondered whether the young guard might consider signing a G League contract to rehab and get back into game shape with the College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta’s NBAGL affiliate). Going that route could potentially earn Djurisic a promotion to the NBA roster later in the season, perhaps after Atlanta opens up a spot on its standard roster with a trade or two.

As for Post, Adams believes the most likely outcome is Golden State eventually waiving Pat Spencer, opening a two-way contract spot for the Dutch big man. If the Warriors make a multiplayer trade, a standard deal for the 24-year-old is another possibility, but nothing appears imminent on that front.

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Nine NBA Teams Have Two-Way Contract Openings

September 1st, 2024 at 9:11am CST by Rory Maher

Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry three extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises.

With training camps set to begin in about a month, there are still nine NBA teams with open two-way spots. Two clubs — the Nets and Magic — each have a pair of two-way openings, while the remaining seven teams have one opening apiece. That means there are currently 11 two-way openings in the NBA.

Here’s the full list of NBA teams with two-way vacancies, as shown by our 2024/25 two-way contract tracker:

  • Brooklyn Nets
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Charlotte Hornets
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Los Angeles Clippers
  • Orlando Magic
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Washington Wizards

Technically, the Cavaliers have yet to finalize their reported two-way deal with JT Thor, but we expect that to occur at some point before training camp — that’s why they are not included on this list.

Since two-way deals are non-guaranteed and don’t count against the salary cap, it’s pretty common to see players shuffled in and out of rosters both before and during the season. It’s worth noting that Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts under certain conditions — these teams may be waiting until training camp and preseason to get a better look at young players.

First introduced in 2017, two-way deals have undergone some rule changes in recent years, and the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has updated them further. Here are some key points to remember:

  • Teams can now carry three players on two-way contracts, rather than two.
  • Two-way players are eligible to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 82 regular season games. If a team isn’t carrying a full 15-man standard roster, its two-way players can only be active for a combined 90 games.
  • Players on two-way contracts will earn $578,577 in 2024/25, half of the rookie minimum.
  • Two-way contracts can’t be signed after March 4.

You can check out our glossary entry to learn more about two-way contracts.

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Pacific Notes: Allen, Suns, Kuminga, Moody, Bronny, LeBron

August 31st, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grayson Allen was outstanding during his first season with the Suns, but the experience didn’t end the way he wanted it to, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. After leading the NBA in three-point shooting at 46.1%, Allen suffered an injury during the first-round playoff series against Minnesota. He sprained his ankle in Game 1, re-injured it in Game 2 and wasn’t available for the series’ final two games.

Allen started spending time in the weight room shortly after the season ended in an effort to become stronger and more durable. He recently posted a video of himself shooting and doing weight training.

“I’ve got a strong base,” Allen said. “Now it’s moving more towards more speed and explosion, some plyometrics stuff. Moving the weight faster if it’s weighted. A lot of unweighted stuff. Working on some speed, power explosion. Trying to get back into that playing shape and be ready and in better shape. A little faster, a little stronger and be ready for October.”

Allen played for four teams in his first six NBA seasons, but his future in Phoenix appears secure after signing a four-year, $70MM extension in April. He’s focused on maximizing his role in an offense where he’s surrounded by elite scorers in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

“Getting in some of the explosive stuff to get ready to hit the court hard for training camp and preseason coming up and getting all the shots I feel I’m going to get in the season,” Allen said. “Shots I got last season playing with these guys.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

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