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NBA Seeks To Dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery Lawsuit

August 24th, 2024 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 24: Baxter Holmes of ESPN provides more details on the NBA’s motion for a dismissal, writing that the league is arguing Warner Bros. Discovery attempted to improperly rewrite the terms of Amazon’s offer and then accept those terms.

“(Turner Broadcasting System) chose not to match NBCUniversal’s offer, which would have enabled TBS to continue distributing games via its TNT linear cable network,” the league wrote in its filing. “Instead, TBS purported to match the less-expensive Amazon offer, but only after revising it to include traditional distribution rights and making numerous other substantive changes.

“… TBS made substantive revisions to eight of the Amazon offer’s 27 sections (including revisions to 22 different subsections), changed 11 defined terms that are collectively used roughly 100 separate times, struck nearly 300 words, and added over 270 new words, substantially altering the parties’ rights and obligations in the process.

“… Far from accepting each term of Amazon’s offer, TBS’s revisions constituted a counteroffer that the NBA was free to reject.”

The NBA is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, which means it couldn’t be refiled in the future, according to Holmes. More information on the league’s arguments can be found within the full ESPN story.

AUGUST 23: The NBA filed a response to Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court on Friday, according to Brian Steinberg of Variety, who reports that the league has sought to dismiss the suit.

Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of TNT Sports, the NBA’s longtime broadcast partner which didn’t reach an agreement with the league during the latest round of media rights negotiations, losing out to Disney (ESPN/ABC), NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. TNT sought to exercise its matching rights on Amazon’s offer but was rejected by the NBA.

In documents filed on Friday, the league reiterated its belief that WBD/TNT failed to match the terms of Amazon’s offer. According to Steinberg, the NBA specified several ways in which TNT’s offer differed from Amazon’s, including:

  • Amazon’s deal is for distribution via streaming only, whereas WBD’s bid would include games on both the TNT cable network and the Max streaming service.
  • Amazon agreed to establish a rights fee escrow account into which it will “deposit and maintain three seasons of rights fee payments on a rolling basis and from which rights fees would automatically be disbursed to the NBA on the agreed-upon payment schedule.” WBD, meanwhile, offered to provide the league with letters of credit as an alternative form of security and to only make them available if the company “failed to make a rights fee payment on a timely basis.” In other words, Amazon’s proposal provides more certainty that payments will be made on time, without the risk of delays.
  • Amazon has promised to promote NBA games during its widest-reaching sports broadcasts, including Thursday Night Football (NFL). WBD “substituted an obligation to promote the NBA in any major sporting league” distributed on TNT or Max — WBD defines “major sporting league” as including NASCAR and various college sporting events, making it a less valuable commitment than Amazon’s in the NBA’s view, Steinberg explains.

As Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic previously outlined, August 23 was the deadline for the NBA to file its initial response to the lawsuit. Warner Bros. Discovery now has until September 20 to file its opposition, then the league will have until October 2 to respond again.

According to Steinberg, the NBA said in Friday’s filing that it intends to move for dismissal at an October 4 hearing in New York City.

Previous reporting has noted that neither the NBA nor WBD likely wants an extended legal battle in which private conversations could be made public during the discovery process, so a settlement of some sort remains a possibility.

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Key 2024 NBA Preseason Dates, Deadlines

August 24th, 2024 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The most notable dates of the 2024 NBA offseason are behind us now that we’re well clear of the draft and the free agent period. However, there are still a number of dates and deadlines to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months before teams take the court for the 2024/25 regular season.

Here’s the breakdown:

August 29

  • Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2024/25 salaries.

September 24

  • Media day for the Celtics and Nuggets.

September 25

  • Training camps open for the Celtics and Nuggets.

September 30

  • Media day for the other 28 teams.

October 1

  • Training camps open for the other 28 teams.

October 4

  • Preseason begins.

October 12-13

  • Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend for the 2024 class.

October 18

  • Preseason ends.

October 19

  • Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2024/25 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.

October 21

  • Last day of the 2024 offseason.
  • Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (4:00 pm CT). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline.
  • Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (5:00 pm CT).
    [RELATED: Players eligible for rookie scale extensions]
  • Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract (such as Stephen Curry) to an extension. An extension-eligible veteran player on an expiring deal (like Brandon Ingram) can still be extended after October 21.
  • Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals.
  • Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.

October 22

Information from NBA.com and ESPN’s Bobby Marks was used in the creation of this post.

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Nets Notes: Fernandez, Nash, Bogdanovic, Nicholas

August 24th, 2024 at 11:54am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Nets brought in a rookie head coach this offseason in Jordi Fernandez. Fernandez is known for his defensive coaching abilities and player development, but as Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes in a subscriber-only article, he’s planning to increase the offensive tempo for his team.

“I think the main part is playing fast, playing confident,” Jalen Wilson said of Fernandez’s coaching philosophy. “Not being out there settling and not being unsure of anything. But everything at full speed and understanding that you’ve got to attack in everything … whether it’s shooting, dribbling, finding the open teammate, running down the floor sprinting to the corner, those different things.”

The Nets pivoted into a full-fledged rebuild this offseason by moving Mikal Bridges, and they’ll extend minutes to their younger players like Wilson, Noah Clowney, Day’Ron Sharpe, Cam Thomas and more.

“We want to play fast, want to play hard,” Clowney said. “We want to be disruptive. We know we’ve got to be a great defensive team if we want any shot at winning games, and that’s just the reality of it. Nobody’s got to sugarcoat that for us. We understand that.”

We have more from the Nets:

  • Speaking to reporters ahead of Goran Dragic‘s farewell game, former Nets head coach Steve Nash spoke on his Brooklyn experience, per Eurohoops.net. Nash said the opportunity in Brooklyn was a unique situation but that he didn’t see himself on the bench long-term. “Coaching was a great experience, [but] I didn’t want to be a career coach,” Nash said. “I don’t think coaching was about to be my career.“
  • Four months after requiring wrist surgery, Bojan Bogdanovic is set to be a part of an exhibition game on Sept. 5 in Croatia in honor of Drazen Petrovic. Both Bogdanovic and Petrovic played for the Croatian national team and for the Nets. As Net Income of NetsDaily observes, Bogdanovic’s participation in the event is an indication that he’ll be ready to go for training camp this fall.
  • The Nets have hired Drew Nicholas to their scouting department, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Nicholas was the director of scouting for the Nuggets over the past two years.
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And-Ones: Sumner, Ingram, Under-Scrutinized Moves

August 24th, 2024 at 10:23am CST by Tristan Tucker

Former NBA guard Edmond Sumner signed a contract with the Sichuan Blue Whales in China, agent Misko Raznatovic announced (via Twitter). Sumner was the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 draft.

Sumner played five seasons in the NBA, most recently with the Nets in 2022/23. He spent the first four years of his career with the Pacers, averaging 7.5 points per game in ’20/21, his best statistical season. He started in 24 of his 53 appearances that year and looked like a potential long-term fixture with the team.

Unfortunately, Sumner suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out of the entire ’21/22 season. He signed a contract with Brooklyn in the 2022 offseason, averaging 7.1 PPG in 53 games (12 starts). However, he didn’t wind up with the team beyond that and played last season in Lithuania.

In all, Sumner holds NBA averages of 6.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 161 career regular season games (41 starts).

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The market for Brandon Ingram has stalled this offseason as the Pelicans determine whether an extension is viable or whether there’s a trade that makes sense. Attempting to find a solution for the Ingram situation, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a three-team trade involving the Pelicans, Nets and Jazz. In this hypothetical scenario, the Jazz would get Ingram and Day’Ron Sharpe, New Orleans would receive Cameron Johnson and Walker Kessler, and the Nets would acquire John Collins, Brice Sensabaugh and a 2025 first-round pick (the more favorable of Cleveland’s and Minnesota’s picks, from Utah). Pincus reasons that while acquiring Ingram could endanger Utah’s chances at landing a top selection in the draft, he would provide a young running mate on the wing for Lauri Markkanen. Pincus opines that the deal makes sense for the Pelicans because they add shooting and size while the Nets would receive a young prospect and a first-round pick.
  • After previously breaking down some offseason moves that flew under the radar, John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a look at some of this summer’s transactions that carry more risk. Hollinger writes that Andrew Nembhard‘s contract worries him, because the Pacers already had him under contract for two more seasons at about $2MM per year. This new contract wipes away the second year, meaning he’s getting $57MM in new money over the following two seasons. Hollinger also expresses concerns with multiple various rookie max extensions, Immanuel Quickley‘s contract with the Raptors, Max Christie‘s deal with the Lakers and Patrick Williams‘ long-term agreement with the Bulls.
  • In case you missed it, Goran Dragic‘s farewell retirement game is streaming on the NBA App at 2 p.m. Eastern. Current and former stars like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Steve Nash, and Dirk Nowitzki will be participating.
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Southeast Notes: Magic, Adebayo, Ware, Lambert

August 24th, 2024 at 8:28am CST by Tristan Tucker

After tearing down the iteration of the team that featured the likes of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, the Magic are finally moving toward where they want to be in the league’s hierarchy, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes. Headlined by Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, the Magic made the playoffs as the No. 5 seed. And while they didn’t necessarily go all-in this summer, they added an NBA champion and top-tier role player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Banchero asserted recently that the Magic belong in the conversation about the East’s best teams. Assuming he, Wagner, Suggs and others continue to progress in linear fashion, that might be true. As Smith observes, the Magic don’t have a single untradable contract.

On the flip side of things, Orlando is still very young and added 2024 first-rounder Tristan Da Silva to a group of deep-bench reserves that also features Anthony Black and Jett Howard. While they aren’t necessarily on a two-timeline approach since their stars are all in their early 20s, the Magic continue to have intriguing upside for growth beyond their biggest names.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Heat‘s selection of center Kel’el Ware in this year’s draft could put the team in position to play Bam Adebayo at the power forward position more often. However, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel believes that Adebayo won’t push for such a move and would be content with any opportunity to simply expand his game. Adebayo shot 35.7% on 42 three-point attempts last season and could increase that volume this season.
  • In a separate, subscriber-only story, Winderman ponders whether Ware is ready for – or deserving of – regular minutes as a rookie. The No. 15 overall pick averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in Summer League, but ultimately Miami will decide when he’s ready for responsibility at the NBA level. In my view, the Heat have done an excellent job in assessing which rookies have been ready to contribute right away. For example, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez quickly established themselves as rotation pieces despite varying levels of college experience. On the other hand, the club took a more patient approach to Nikola Jovic‘s insertion into the lineup while he fleshed out his defensive game.
  • The Hornets are hiring Ryan Lambert as their director of amateur scouting, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Lambert was previously with the Thunder since 2012, working his way up to a senior amateur evaluation scout position last season.
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Pelicans Waive Matt Ryan

August 23rd, 2024 at 9:03pm CST by Rory Maher

9:03pm: The Pelicans officially waived Ryan on Friday, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

1:19pm: The Pelicans plan to waive sharpshooter Matt Ryan, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Ryan, 27, appeared in 28 games for New Orleans in 2023/24, averaging 5.4 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from three-point range in 13.9 minutes per contest. He missed several weeks of action last season due to a right calf strain and a right elbow injury, which required surgery in December.

New Orleans claimed Ryan off waivers last October, inheriting the two-way contract he signed with Minnesota shortly before the start of training camp. He also had brief stints with the Celtics and Lakers earlier in his career.

The Pelicans converted Ryan to a standard contract at the very end of last season, making him playoff-eligible. However, his three-year deal — which featured a significant end-of-season payday in ’23/24 — was non-guaranteed for the ’24/25 and ’25/26 seasons. That means the Pels won’t carry a dead-money cap hit by cutting Ryan loose.

Ryan’s salary for ’24/25 would have become guaranteed if he had remained under contract through the start of the regular season.

After officially signing Javonte Green, the Pelicans had 15 players on standard contracts, with 13 players on guaranteed salaries. They’re back down to 14 players now, with Jose Alvarado holding the lone non-guaranteed deal.

The Pelicans are still about $1.6MM over the luxury tax line after releasing Ryan, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks, with a tax distribution to non-taxpaying teams projected to be a record high of $18.2MM. 13 teams are presently over the tax threshold, Marks adds.

If Ryan clears waivers in a couple days, he will become an unrestricted free agent. As a three-year veteran, he remains eligible for a two-way contract covering one season.

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And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer

August 23rd, 2024 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.

Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.

The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.

The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
  • Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
  • Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.
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Pacers Sign Kyle Mangas, Cameron McGriff To Exhibit 10 Deals

August 23rd, 2024 at 6:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have signed free agent guard Kyle Mangas and forward Cameron McGriff to Exhibit 10 contracts, the team announced today in a press release.

Mangas, a native of Indiana who played his college ball at Indiana Wesleyan, went undrafted in 2021 and spent two seasons overseas with teams in the Czech Republic and Lithuania before catching on with the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate, for the 2023/24 campaign.

In 51 total Showcase Cup and regular season games last season for the Mad Ants, the 6’4″ guard averaged 16.9 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 31.4 minutes per game, posting a shooting line of .478/.389/.860.

McGriff, who went undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2020, bounced around several leagues in his first few professional seasons, playing in Belgium, Puerto Rico, Greece, and France in addition to multiple stints in the G League and a brief cameo in the NBA for the Trail Blazers during the 2021/22 season.

Like Mangas, McGriff finished last season as a member of the Indiana Mad Ants. After playing in 32 games for the Memphis Hustle, the 6’7″ forward was traded to the Mad Ants in March and made eight appearances for the Pacers’ affiliate down the stretch. In his 40 total outings for the two teams, he recorded averages of 11.3 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .434/.331/.887 shooting.

While Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted into two-way deals before the regular season begins, it doesn’t sound like that’s the plan for Mangas or McGriff. The Pacers’ announcement mentions specifically that the plan for the duo is to rejoin the Mad Ants, who hold their G League returning rights.

Signings these Exhibit 10 deals will allow Mangas and McGriff to receive bonuses worth up to $77.5K on top of their standard NBAGL salaries as long as they spend at least 60 days with the Mad Ants after being waived by the Pacers.

Indiana now has a full 21-man offseason roster.

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NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Detroit Pistons

August 23rd, 2024 at 5:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Detroit Pistons.

Free agent signings

Trades

  • Acquired Tim Hardaway Jr., the Raptors’ 2025 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick, and either the Clippers’ or Hornets’ 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) from the Mavericks in exchange for Quentin Grimes.
  • Acquired Wendell Moore and the draft rights to Bobi Klintman (No. 37 pick) from the Timberwolves in a four-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Cam Spencer (No. 53 pick; sent to Grizzlies).

Draft picks

  • 1-5: Ron Holland
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $37,463,383).
  • 2-37: Bobi Klintman
    • Signed to four-year, $7,995,796 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year non-guaranteed team option.

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other moves

  • Signed Cade Cunningham to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension that begins in 2025/26. Projected value of $224,238,150 (starting at 25% of the cap). Projected value can increase to $269,085,780 (30% of the cap) if Cunningham meets Rose Rule performance criteria.
  • Claimed Paul Reed off waivers.
  • Waived Troy Brown.
  • Waived Buddy Boeheim (two-way).

Salary cap situation

  • Operating under the cap ($140.6MM) and above the minimum salary floor ($126.5MM).
  • Carrying approximately $130.3MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full room exception ($8MM) available.

The offseason so far

After winning no more than 23 games for four straight seasons, the Pistons entered 2023/24 hoping to take a step forward under new head coach Monty Williams. Instead, the team endured one of the ugliest seasons in NBA history, compiling a franchise-worst 14-68 record and matching a league record by losing 28 consecutive games.

The Pistons responded by replacing general manager Troy Weaver with new head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, a former player and a veteran executive who previously worked in New Orleans and Brooklyn. Langdon certainly wants to see better on-court results than Detroit had last season, but he also isn’t yet feeling any win-now pressure in his first year on the job, so his approach to the offseason blended moves that could help in the short term with future-minded transactions.

In free agency, the Pistons looked to add veteran leadership while upgrading their outside shooting after ranking among the NBA’s bottom five last season in three-pointers made and three-point percentage. There was some sticker shock when word broke that Tobias Harris had agreed to a two-year, $52MM contract with Detroit, but Harris is the sort of scorer and shooter the team needed in its frontcourt, and his deal isn’t lengthy enough to become a real burden on the club’s cap.

The Pistons also re-signed Simone Fontecchio (two years, $16MM) and brought in Malik Beasley (one year, $6MM), giving the team two more reliable marksmen on short-term deals.

Harris, Fontecchio, and Beasley aren’t going to turn Detroit into a playoff team, but they’ll help open up the floor for franchise player Cade Cunningham to operate. After a lost 2022/23 season, Cunningham returned from a left leg injury and enjoyed a breakout year, with career highs in PPG (22.7), APG (7.5), FG% (.449), and 3PT% (.355).

The former No. 1 overall pick is entering his age-23 season and will be playing on a roster a little better suited to his skill set, so it’s not unreasonable to expect him to reach a new level in 2024/25. The Pistons are certainly hoping for continued growth after giving him a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension in July. That deal, which will go into effect in ’25/26, projects to be worth about $224MM, or up to $269MM if Cunningham takes a huge step forward and earns All-NBA honors next spring.

While additions like Harris and Beasley should help make the Pistons a more competitive team in the short term, some of Langdon’s other moves this summer were made with the long term in mind. Detroit acquired three future second-round picks and moved up 16 spots in this year’s second round by sending out Quentin Grimes and taking back Tim Hardaway Jr. (from Dallas) and Wendell Moore (from Minnesota) in salary-dump deals.

It’s possible none of those four second-round picks (including this year’s No. 37 selection Bobi Klintman) will yield a better NBA player than Grimes, but Langdon and his new front office clearly weren’t committed enough to the former Knick to pay up for his next contract (Grimes is rookie scale extension-eligible this offseason). And while Hardaway was a salary dump from the Mavericks’ perspective, he figures to play a rotation role in Detroit in 2024/25 after making 37.5% of his three-point tries over the past five seasons.

The Pistons’ lottery selection, No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland, is another long-term investment for the organization — he turned 19 just last month and has a few areas of his game he’ll need to improve in order to earn regular rotation minutes as a rookie. Several mock drafts leading up to June’s event had Holland going outside the top 10, but Langdon was willing to bet on the young forward’s upside following an up-and-down year with the G League Ignite.

While the Pistons’ selection of Holland was unexpected, it may not have been the most surprising move made in Detroit this summer. A year after signing what was – at the time – a record-setting contract for an NBA head coach, Williams was dismissed with five years and well over $60MM still left on that six-year deal.

It’s rare for NBA teams to eat that much money and give up on a head coach so soon, but it’s a credit to club owner Tom Gores that he was willing to write that check and let Langdon make his own hire. The Pistons brought in former Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who showed in Cleveland that he’s capable of turning a young team into a perennial playoff club.

Up next

The Pistons are the only NBA team with any cap room remaining — they have just over $10MM still available.

Theoretically, with one spot still open on the team’s projected 15-man roster, that money could be used to pursue a free agent. But Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is the only unsigned player likely to earn significantly more than the veteran’s minimum, and there has been no indication Detroit is pursuing him.

There’s no urgency for the Pistons to use their cap room immediately, so the front office will likely remain patient and stay on the lookout for ways it could come in handy. That could mean accommodating another salary dump to acquire more draft assets, like they did with Hardway and Moore. It could also mean claiming a player off waivers, like they did last month with big man Paul Reed. If no favorable opportunities arise this fall, Detroit could carry that cap room into the season and use it to make a midseason deal.

In addition to their open 15-man roster spot, the Pistons have one two-way slot available.

As for extension candidates, Hardaway is the only player eligible for a new deal now that Cunningham has been locked up. I don’t expect extending the veteran wing will be a preseason priority for Detroit — if he performs well during the season, the team could always explore a possible extension for Hardaway anytime up until June 30.

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Trail Blazers Notes: Grant, Schedule, Walton

August 23rd, 2024 at 4:05pm CST by Rory Maher

Jerami Grant‘s name has popped up in trade rumors multiple times this offseason. Should the Trail Blazers move him? Dave Deckard of Blazers Edge explores that topic, writing that the veteran forward’s skill set is better suited for a contending team than a rebuilding squad like Portland, which finished just 21-61 last season, tied for the third-worst record in the NBA.

Still, while the 30-year-old might make more sense on a team that’s interested in winning now than in the future, the Blazers shouldn’t feel any rush to deal him right away, according to Deckard, who points out that Grant is under contract for at least three more seasons, with a $36.4MM player option for 2027/28.

Here’s more on the Blazers:

  • A difficult schedule, combined the increasingly competitive Western Conference, will put Portland firmly in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes without needing to intentionally tank down the stretch in 2024/25, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. Flagg, who will play for Duke this season, is considered the top prospect in the 2025 draft class, but there are other players who are in the mix for the No. 1 pick, Highkin notes.
  • The Blazers recently announced that they will celebrate Hall of Famer Bill Walton‘s life on March 9 (Twitter link via Highkin). As Highkin points out, Portland will face Detroit on that date, and former NBA forward and head coach Luke Walton, Bill’s son, will be in attendance — he’s currently an assistant with the Pistons. Bill passed away in May after a long battle with cancer. He helped bring the Blazers their first and only championship in 1977, claiming Finals MVP in the process. He also won the league’s MVP the following year with Portland.
  • In case you missed it, the Blazers are parting ways with ROOT Sports and will be moving their games to an over-the-air network, with more details to be announced soon. They also added forward Henri Drell on an Exhibit 10 deal last week.
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