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Cavs Sign Donovan Mitchell To Three-Year Extension

July 7th, 2024 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 7: The extension is official, according to a team press release.

“Signing Donovan Mitchell to an extension serves as a pivotal moment for our franchise and reinforces our vision and goals for sustainable success,” Cavs president Koby Altman said. “Donovan is one of the most dynamic All-NBA players in the league and we couldn’t be more excited that he chose Cleveland and this community to continue his basketball journey. We want to align ourselves with the best teams in the NBA and ultimately compete for championships, and we feel securing Donovan long-term provides us that opportunity.”

JULY 2: The Cavaliers and star guard Donovan Mitchell have agreed to terms on a three-year, maximum-salary contract extension projected to be worth more than $150MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal will include a third-year player option, Wojnarowski adds.

Mitchell, who spent his first five NBA seasons in Utah, was traded to Cleveland in 2022 for a significant package of assets that included Lauri Markkanen and three future unprotected first-round picks. Since joining the Cavs, Mitchell has led the team to consecutive top-four seeds in the East and has averaged 27.5 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per night across 123 regular season games, with a shooting line of .475/.378/.866.

There was plenty of speculation over the past two years that playing outside of a major NBA market and not experiencing significant postseason success may prompt Mitchell to forgo an extension in Cleveland in order to seek a change of scenery. The Cavs were eliminated in the first round in 2023 and eked out a first-round win in Game 7 over the lower-seeded Magic in 2024 before being knocked out in round two.

However, Cleveland has long projected confidence that Mitchell would make a commitment to the franchise, with head of basketball operations Koby Altman publicly reiterating that message on Monday. The coaching change the Cavs made this offseason signaled that management was in alignment with Mitchell, who reportedly didn’t have full confidence in J.B. Bickerstaff and endorsed the hiring of Kenny Atkinson.

Within his full story on the extension agreement, Wojnarowski writes that Mitchell and agent Austin Brown feel good about the partnership with the Cavs and have confidence in the front office’s ability to continue building the roster into a championship contender

Mitchell’s new contract – which will begin in 2025/26, replacing the player option in his current agreement – could have been for up to four years. However, a three-year extension with a player option will put him on track to potentially sign a new deal beginning in 2027, when he has 10 years of NBA experience and will qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap (instead of 30%). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first reported last month that Mitchell would likely take this route.

Based on the NBA’s most recent cap projection for 2025/26, Mitchell’s new deal would start at $46,394,100, with a guaranteed $50,105,628 salary for ’26/27 and a $53,817,156 player option for ’27/28. The total would be $150,316,884.

Now that they know they’ll have Mitchell under contract for at least the next three seasons, the Cavaliers can move forward with plans to address the rest of the roster around him.

There were rumors in the spring that the team may consider trades to address the overlapping skill sets in the backcourt (Mitchell and Darius Garland) and frontcourt (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) and to better balance the roster. On top of that, one report indicated that a Mitchell extension might prompt Garland’s agent – Rich Paul – to talk to the team about the possibility of finding a new home for his client.

However, Altman indicated in May that he’s not inclined to trade any of the club’s core four players, and reports since then have confirmed that stance hasn’t changed. Additionally, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com recently pointed out (via Twitter), some of the teams that were considered likely suitors for Garland have already addressed their point guard spot in other ways (e.g. Dejounte Murray in New Orleans; Chris Paul in San Antonio).

Spurs Officially Sign Chris Paul

July 7th, 2024 at 4:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs have officially signed 11-time All-NBA guard Chris Paul, according to a team press release relayed by ESPN’s Andrew Lopez (Twitter link).

Paul’s intention to sign with San Antonio was made public a week ago. The contract will reportedly be a one-year deal worth more than $11MM.

Paul was waived by the Warriors at the start of free agency. The 12-time All-Star figures to be a natural, if short-term, pick-and-roll partner for Victor Wembanyama.

Paul came off the bench a majority of the season for Golden State but will likely start for the Spurs. San Antonio used a variety of players to initiate the offense in Wembanyama’s rookie season with Tre Jones getting a majority of the starts at that position. Still, given that the Spurs seemed reluctant to make Jones their starter and didn’t do so until January, it seems unlikely that he would get the nod in next year’s starting five over the veteran Paul.

San Antonio’s cap space gave it an advantage over some other potential suitors for Paul. Golden State had to make a decision prior to free agency whether to guarantee Paul’s $30MM salary for the 2024/25 season. The Warriors were unsuccessful in their attempts to include Paul’s contract in a blockbuster deal, including a potential swap with the Clippers for Paul George.

Paul, who turned 39 in May, remained productive in 2023/24, averaging 9.2 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game in 58 appearances (18 starts) for the Warriors. He posted a shooting line of .441/.371/.827.

KJ Simpson Signs Two-Way Deal With Hornets

July 7th, 2024 at 4:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

5:25pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

4:01pm: Former Colorado point guard KJ Simpson is signings a two-way deal with the Hornets, sources inform Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Charlotte selected Simpson with the No. 42 overall pick in last month’s draft.

A two-time All-Pac-12 honoree during his three-season stint with the Buffaloes, the 6’0″ Simpson notched career-best averages of 19.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in 2023/24.

Simpson is most valued for his offensive upside with the club, especially as a scorer and play-maker, but could struggle on the other end as an undersized guard.

He’ll join former two-time ACC All-Defense North Carolina guard Leaky Black among the club’s two-way signings, leaving one open slot.

In the first round of the draft, Charlotte selected 6’9″ former Cholet Basket power forward Tidjane Salaun with the sixth overall pick.

Heat Waive Orlando Robinson

July 7th, 2024 at 1:56pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Heat have waived reserve center Orlando Robinson, the team announced (Twitter link).

The 23-year-old had been on a non-guaranteed $2.1MM deal with the Heat heading into the 2024/25 season. With this move, the seven-foot big man is on track to become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he clears waivers on Tuesday.

Robinson’s tenure with the team had been expected to end after Miami made a series of moves to shore up its depth at center, re-signing veteran floor-spacing big man Kevin Love and rim-running five Thomas Bryant after selecting former Indiana center Kel’el Ware with the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft.

The decision to bring back Bryant was a curious one, as his lackluster defense occasionally led to a complete banishment from the team’s rotation. He lacks the offensive upside of Love, a great passer and shooter, or the intriguing defense of Robinson. Bryant’s three-point shooting also fell off mightily, from a career 35.5% on 1.3 triple tries per game to just 18.2% on 0.6 attempts.

The seven-foot Robinson went undrafted out of Fresno State in 2022. He inked multiple two-way deals with the Heat in 2022/23, toggling between Miami and its NBAGL affiliate squad, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He signed a standard deal with the Heat following the team’s 2023 Finals run. Robinson was a fringe rotation player as a springy, raw big man. He appeared in just 36 contests for Miami in 2023/24, averaging 2.8 points on a .500/.533/.760 shooting line. Robinson also chipped in 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per night.

As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, cutting Robinson leaves the Heat with 13 players signed to their 15-man standard roster. The Heat will look to add at least a 14th player prior to the start of the season.

Wizards’ Carlton Carrington Signs Rookie Contract

July 7th, 2024 at 1:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Former Pittsburgh point guard Carlton Carrington has officially signed his rookie scale contract with the Wizards, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

Last season, the 6’4″ guard averaged 13.8 points per game on a .412/.322/.785 shooting line while at Pitt. He also chipped in 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest.

He was selected with the No. 14 pick by the Wizards, after Washington acquired the selection from the Trail Blazers as part of the Deni Avdija trade.

In that deal, the Wizards took pack the draft rights to Carrington, a 2029 first-round selection, a pair of second-rounders, and the expiring $22.5MM contract of former Sixth Man of the Year guard Malcolm Brogdon. Perhaps Brogdon can now serve as a stabilizing veteran mentor to Carrington.

Washington, coming off a dismal 2023/24 season, was heavily involved in the draft, making three first-round picks. The Wizards selected former NBL big man Alex Sarr with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft last month and ex-Miami freshman catch-and-shoot specialist swingman Kyshawn George with the No. 24 selection. Both Sarr and George previously signed to their rookie-scale deals.

Provided Carrington signs for 120% of his rookie-scale salary (the top allowable sum), his four-year agreement with the team would be worth $21,290,769 (with $4.45MM allocated to his rookie season).

Lakers Notes: Bronny, Knecht, LeBron, Redick, St. Jean

July 7th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Bronny James had an uneven debut with the Lakers on Saturday at the California Classic summer league, writes Anthony De Leon of The Los Angeles Times. The 55th overall pick of last month’s draft, James finished with four points (on 2-of-9 shooting), two assists, two rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.

“Overall [I need to] just be aggressive, believe in myself and know that I can make plays for myself and my teammates,” James said. “Playing my game on the defensive end, especially because I believe I know how to play.”

“He’s going to play — granted, if he’s healthy — throughout this whole thing,” summer league coach Dane Johnson said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We’re going to try to integrate him and try to get him as many reps as we can. Because he needs more experience playing. And especially the NBA game. It’s a little different than college, so getting reps in the NBA, in an NBA setting with good players will help him in the long run.”

First-rounder Dalton Knecht also showed signs of rust, De Leon notes, putting up 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, but going just 3-of-12 from the floor in 26 minutes. The Lakers lost to the Kings by 14 points.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

ESPN insiders McMenamin, Kendra Andrews and Baxter Holmes provide their takeaways from Bronny’s debut.
LeBron James was ecstatic that the Lakers drafted his son Bronny, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “For me to see my son to be able to, you know, be in the NBA alone. I mean, it’s always been a dream of his and for us to be side by side … there’s a loss of words, to be honest,” LeBron said after his first practice with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics.”I mean, the kid has worked so hard to get back to this point. There’s just so much that’s happened over the last year with him to have this happen less than a year from his incident to be with our friends and our family. When they announced his name, it was something that was super surreal, and it’s kind of still, our family still don’t even have enough words to explain the feeling that we had.” Both LeBron and Anthony Davis — another member of Team USA — were optimistic about the hiring of J.J. Redick as head coach, Bontemps adds.
Replacing Darvin Ham with Redick has been the Lakers’ biggest offseason move to this point. Will a new coach be enough to improve a team with a roster that’s mostly the same as 2023/24? Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group explores that topic.
The Lakers are hiring Greg St. Jean as an assistant coach on Redick’s staff, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). St. Jean, who was an assistant in L.A. when the Lakers won the title in 2020, has worked for Dallas and Phoenix in recent seasons, Scotto notes.

New York Notes: Bridges Trade, Hartenstein, Nets, Gaitley

July 7th, 2024 at 10:29am CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks‘ blockbuster trade with the Nets to acquire Mikal Bridges stunned his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, as Bradley Locker of The New York Post relays.

“I never thought it would happen,” Brunson said on the Roommates Show podcast he co-hosts with Hart. “When’s the last time the Nets made a trade with the Knicks?”

Hart answered Brunson’s question — 1983 — and elaborated on his own skepticism of a deal coming together.

“You don’t think it’s really going to happen, but you’re like, ‘You know what? Let me just go mess with ‘kal,’” Hart said, referring to postgame discussions in matchups between the Knicks and Nets. “Because that’s my guy.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:

Isaiah Hartenstein left the Knicks to join the Thunder in part because he believes he’ll have an opportunity to broaden his game, “especially offensively,” writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. “If you’re an NBA player, you have to adapt to certain roles. And that’s what I did in New York,” Hartenstein said. “My passing only came out in the last year. My first year, I had to adapt to a certain role. So I feel like I can get back to that shooting aspect. Before, I was shooting, so I want to get back to that even more.” Hartenstein’s front-loaded three-year contract with Oklahoma City became official on Saturday. It will guarantee him $58.5MM over the next two seasons, with a third-year team option.
On the same Roommates Show podcast, Hart and Brunson expressed frustration that the Knicks were only able to offer Hartenstein a four-year, $72.5MM contract because he only had Early Bird rights, per Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). “I feel like in those situations, you shouldn’t be restricted on what you can sign your own guys for,” Hart said of Hartenstein. “Especially, like, he signed a two-year, $16 [million contract], he played well for you guys, under your coaches, your system. Then you should be rewarded in helping develop that guy and should be able to offer him whatever. You guys did really good, he played well. [But] let’s slow down, you can only offer him this? That’s idiotic.”
New head coach Jordi Fernandez will have his work cut out for him with the rebuilding Nets, according to Evan Barnes of Newsday (subscription required). Although there may be less pressure on Fernandez in some ways since Brooklyn will likely be a lottery team in 2024/25, trying to get buy-in from veterans on the trade block while developing the team’s young players will be a difficult balance to strike, Barnes observes.
The Nets are hiring Dutch Gaitley as an assistant coach, a source tells Net Income of NetsDaily.com (Twitter link). Gaitley, who previously spent four years with Charlotte, worked with Fernandez the past two years in Sacramento as the Kings‘ director of player development.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, George, McCain, Depth

July 7th, 2024 at 8:36am CST by Arthur Hill

A few weeks after working together on ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Finals, Joel Embiid and Paul George are Sixers teammates, writes Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid dropped a not-so-subtle hint during that broadcast, saying that Philadelphia needed to upgrade its roster and glancing at George, who was involved in extension negotiations with the Clippers at the time that ultimately collapsed and resulted in his free agency.

Speaking to reporters Saturday after Team USA’s first practice to prepare for the Summer Olympics, Embiid talked about what a difference it will make to have another All-Star joining him and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia.

“My focus is on helping [my teammates] as much as possible,” Embiid said. “Making the game easy for them, so I don’t have to do a lot, like in the past years. It was exciting [getting George]. Obviously, that’s a great job that [the front office] did. But we’ve still got to go on the court and try to win.”

Embiid has been one of the league’s most dominant players over the last two years, winning MVP honors in 2023 and possibly heading for a repeat before being sidelined with a torn meniscus in January. However, he has also frequently broken down in the playoffs and should benefit from not having to carry the team as much during the regular season.

The addition of George, along with Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond, has the Sixers looking like legitimate title contenders, but Embiid cautioned that everything might not click right away.

“Obviously, everybody always has the mindset [of] winning a championship, and that’s the goal,” he said. “But you’ve also got to understand it’s going to take a while for everybody to be on the same page. Hopefully it doesn’t take us a while and we just [have it] from the beginning, but that’s kind of rare.”

There’s more on the Sixers:

First-round pick Jared McCain plans to turn to Maxey as a mentor as he adjusts to the NBA game, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey notes that both players fell out of the lottery even though they were coming off productive seasons at traditional college powers. “Whether it’s the work ethic, how is transition was from college to the NBA, I’m going to try to learn everything I can from (Maxey),” McCain said. “He’s an All-Star now. Everything I can, I’m going to try and figure it out and learn from him.”
While the Sixers have been very active in adding players in free agency, they also lost several veterans and currently only have nine players on standard contracts, including Ricky Council‘s non-guaranteed salary for 2024/25. David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at how the team might fill out the rest of its roster.
In case you missed it, the Sixers have officially signed former Heat wing Caleb Martin to a four-year contract. They also waived big man Paul Reed, who was on a non-guaranteed deal, to create cap room for Martin’s addition.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Kings Sign Jordan McLaughlin To One-Year Deal

July 7th, 2024 at 6:32am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 9: McLaughlin has officially signed with the Kings, according to the NBA’s transaction log. It’s a minimum-salary deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

JULY 7: The Kings and free agent point guard Jordan McLaughlin have agreed to a one-year contract, agent Greg Lawrence tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link) was the first to report that the two sides were nearing a deal.

McLaughlin, 28, has spent all five of his NBA seasons to date with the Timberwolves, providing backcourt depth behind the team’s various starting point guards — he has come off the bench in 235 of 242 career regular season outings. In 2023/24, the former USC standout averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 assists in 11.2 minutes per game across 56 appearances.

While McLaughlin’s counting stats are modest, he does a good job taking care of the ball, having averaged just 0.3 turnovers per game last season, and is a solid shooter. His .472 3PT% in ’23/24 was an outlier, but he has made 36.9% of his career three-point attempts.

McLaughlin will give Sacramento another option behind De’Aaron Fox in a backcourt that will no longer feature former lottery pick Davion Mitchell, who was traded to Toronto in June.

While terms of the agreement have yet to be reported, the Kings project to have little breathing room below the luxury tax line once they complete their sign-and-trade deal for DeMar DeRozan, so I’d expect McLaughlin to sign for the veteran’s minimum. For a player with his five years of experience, that would work out to a salary of about $2.43MM for him, with Sacramento carrying a cap hit of approximately $2.09MM.

Lakers Re-Sign LeBron James To Two-Year Deal

July 6th, 2024 at 11:21pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: The Lakers have officially re-signed James, the team announced today in a press release.

“No one plays the game like LeBron James, and his commitment to continuous performance and long-term sustained excellence is unmatched,” Lakers head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “LeBron is one of the most dynamic and competitive players to ever take the NBA court and we’re grateful to have his leadership as he returns for a seventh season with the Lakers.

“Alongside fellow team captain Anthony Davis, LeBron and new Lakers head coach JJ Redick will together lead a championship-caliber team that will play with great pride every time they take the floor. Entering his 22nd season of NBA basketball, LeBron continues to remind us that no obstacle is too big and no goal is out of reach. We’re so thankful that the history-making story of LeBron James will continue to be written in front of Lakers fans throughout the world.”

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter links), LeBron’s two-year deal is worth approximately $101.35MM, a little below his max. The savings will allow the team to operate ever so slightly ($45K) under the second tax apron.

In addition to featuring a player option and a no-trade clause, the contract will include a 15% trade kicker, tweets Charania.

JULY 3: LeBron James is returning to the Lakers on a two-year, maximum-salary contract that will be worth approximately $104MM, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), the deal will include a second-year player option and a no-trade clause.

Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the Lakers and agent Rich Paul are still discussing the possibility of James accepting $1MM or so below his max in order to allow the team to operate slightly below the second tax apron and to have a little extra roster-building flexibility.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer, James had his 20th consecutive All-Star and All-NBA season in 2023/24 at age 39, averaging 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.3 rebounds in 35.3 minutes per game for the Lakers. He posted an impressive shooting line of .540/.410/.750 and appeared in 71 games, his most in a season since he arrived in Los Angeles in 2018.

While James declined his 2024/25 player option in order to become a free agent, there was never any real belief that he’d leave Los Angeles or the Lakers, who selected his son Bronny James with the 55th overall pick in last week’s draft. However, there was some uncertainty entering free agency about what LeBron’s new contract would look like.

A report ahead of the start of the free agent period indicated that James would be open to taking a pay cut if the additional cap flexibility would help the Lakers land an impact player like James Harden or Klay Thompson. However, the expectation was that LeBron would still seek the max if the players on his short list were unattainable.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), James’ new contract projects to put L.A.’s team salary right around the second tax apron, so the club wouldn’t be able to acquire a player via sign-and-trade or use the full mid-level exception without some significant cost-cutting.

The league-wide maximum salary in 2024/25 for a player with at least 10 years of experience is about $49.2MM, but a player is always permitted to earn up to a 5% raise on his previous salary. That means that James, who made about $47.6MM last season, would have a starting salary of $49,987,718 on his new contract if he signs for the max. The 2025/26 option will be worth $53,986,735, for a total of $103,974,453.

The agreement puts the four-time MVP on track to become the first player in NBA history to surpass the $500MM mark in career earnings, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

James will become the second NBA player to hold a no-trade clause for the 2024/25 season, joining Suns guard Bradley Beal. A player is eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause if he’s signing a free agent contract, has at least eight years of NBA experience, and has spent at least four years with the team he’s signing with. LeBron previously had a no-trade clause in his contract during his second stint in Cleveland.

James had been the No. 4 free agent on our top-50 list.

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