- While Spurs No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama had some moments of brilliance against Dallas in his regular season debut, recording 15 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, he also committed five turnovers was limited to just 23 minutes in the loss due to foul trouble, notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
The Spurs are expected to be very cautious with new franchise player Victor Wembanyama during his rookie season. He won’t be impacted by the league’s new player participation policy, which only applies to recent All-Stars and All-NBA players, which will give San Antonio more flexibility to hold him out of certain games if necessary. However, if it were up to him, Wembanyama would play all full 82-game schedule in 2023/24, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com details.
“Every game,” Wembanyama said. “If there’s no excessive risk for my health — of course I can’t predict the future — but I want to play every single game.”
The French phenom will open the season as the Spurs’ starting power forward alongside center Zach Collins, and the team has made developing the chemistry between the two big men a priority this month, notes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The thinking is that Collins is more equipped to handle the physicality associated with the center position and that having him out there will help reduce the wear and tear on Wembanyama. Still, the 19-year-old is prepared for opponents to test his physicality, Lopez writes.
“Everyone has their strength, and being physical [with me] is something I’ve seen my whole life, basically every time I stepped on a court for the last few years,” Wembanyama said. “It’s not something I’m afraid of. Quickness beats physicality when used correctly. It’s really part of the game. I’m used to it.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- Xavier Tillman is “probably a leader in the clubhouse” to start at center for the Grizzlies with both Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke sidelined, head coach Taylor Jenkins said on Tuesday, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The fourth-year big man started 29 games at center last season and Memphis won 18 of them, though his role figures to look a little different this season, as Cole explains.
- Jeenathan Williams made a positive impression on Rockets head coach Ime Udoka during training camp and the preseason, which helped him secure a promotion from his camp deal to a two-way contract, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “He is a pretty natural, fluid scorer,” Udoka said. “He is a guy that played well in the G League last year and had a good stint at the end of the year with Portland. … He had a good summer with us as well. A guy that gives us a burst and we feel can play with many different lineups. And since he has come in, he has been one of the better guys with the second and third unit.”
- Speaking to Sam Yip of HoopsHype, Pelicans guard CJ McCollum discussed his expectations for the upcoming season, his role as the NBPA president, and why he’s encouraged by what he’s seen from Zion Williamson entering the season.
As we explain in a glossary entry, Exhibit 9 contracts are generally handed out by NBA teams to players who will only be with the team during training camp and/or the preseason.
The Exhibit 9 clause protects the team in case the player suffers an injury before the season begins. In that scenario, the club wouldn’t have to pay him his full salary until he gets healthy enough to play — it would only have to pay a maximum lump sum of $15K when it waives the player.
While most Exhibit 9 signees were released in advance of the regular season, three NBA veterans who signed Exhibit 9 contracts survived the cut and made their respective teams’ regular season rosters. Here are those three players:
- Ryan Arcidiacono (Knicks)
- Harry Giles (Nets)
- Lamar Stevens (Celtics)
Note: Hornets guard Edmond Sumner was initially included in this list, but Charlotte waived him on Tuesday ahead of its season opener.
These three players will now be on one-year, minimum-salary contracts that will remain non-guaranteed until January 10. In order to secure their full-season salaries, they’ll have to stay under contract beyond January 7 (a player cut on Jan. 8 or 9 wouldn’t clear waivers prior to the league-wide salary guarantee date of Jan. 10).
As our list of non-guaranteed contracts by team shows, Arcidiacono, Giles, and Stevens are three of the 31 players on standard deals whose salaries for the 2023/24 season aren’t fully guaranteed.
Several of these players will receive partial guarantees by remaining on rosters through the start of the regular season, and a few more have November or December trigger dates that will increase their guarantees. However, none of those 31 players will lock in their full salary until Jan. 10.
Here are a few more items of interest about the NBA’s opening night rosters for ’23/24, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):
- The Spurs have the NBA’s youngest roster, while the Clippers have the oldest.
- Players are earning a combined total salary of $4.8 billion for the 2023/24 season. The Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Heat, Bucks, Pelicans, Sixers, and Suns are the biggest contributors to that pool, as they’re all currently over the luxury tax line.
- As our roster counts page shows, there are 12 open spots on standard 15-man rosters around the NBA. Those openings belong to the Celtics, Bulls, Cavaliers, Pistons, Warriors (two), Lakers, Heat, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, and Kings.
- The Nets and the Suns are the only two teams that haven’t filled all three of their two-way slots, as our tracker shows. They’re each carrying a pair of two-way players, meaning 88 of the 90 spots around the league are occupied.
4:15pm: The conversion is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
3:53pm: As expected, the Spurs are converting Charles Bediako‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal ahead of the regular season, agent Daniel Green tells Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).
A seven-foot center, Bediako spent two college seasons at Alabama, starting 67 of the 70 games he played for the Crimson Tide. In 2022/23, he averaged 6.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 20.7 minutes per games (37 games), earning a spot on the All-SEC Defensive Team.
Bediako joined the Spurs for Summer League this July, appearing in seven total games for the club in Las Vegas and Sacramento. The 21-year-old subsequently signed an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio and played limited minutes in a pair of preseason games.
When the Spurs kept Bediako on their roster beyond Saturday – which is when most players on Exhibit 10 contracts were cut for financial reasons – it was a strong indication that they planned to convert him to a two-way deal. With Dominick Barlow and Sir’Jabari Rice also on two-way contracts, San Antonio had one open two-way slot, so no corresponding move will be required.
Once the move is official, the Spurs will have 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways, making their roster ready for the regular season.
The Spurs have exercised their third-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, the team announced today.
While the moves won’t impact the players this season, the trio now have their 2024/25 salaries guaranteed. Sochan will make $5,570,040 next season, Branham will carry a $3,217,920 cap hit, and Wesley will earn $2,624,280.
The Spurs will have until the end of October 2024 to decide whether or not they want to pick up the fourth-year options of Sochan, Branham and Wesley.
The No. 9 overall pick of the 2022 draft, Sochan earned a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team last season after averaging 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 56 games, including 53 starts (26.0 minutes per contest). He posted a .453/.246/.698 shooting line.
Head coach Gregg Popovich previously stated that the 6’9″ Sochan would be the de facto point guard of the Spurs’ super-sized starting lineup to open ’23/24. However, on Friday, he cast some uncertainty on whether that five-man group would remain the long-term starters, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter links).
Branham, a 6’5″ guard who was the No. 20 overall pick in 2022, averaged 10.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists on .440/.302/.829 shooting in 66 games last season (23.5 minutes).
Wesley, meanwhile, was the No. 25 pick last year. He averaged 5.0 points, 2.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds on .321/.381/.591 shooting in 37 NBA games in ’22/23 (18.1 minutes). The 6’5″ guard also spent some time in the G League last season.
The full list of ’24/25 rookie scale team option decisions can be found right here.
10:35pm: The Spurs have confirmed the extension through a press statement.
12:09pm: The Spurs and big man Zach Collins have agreed to a two-year contract extension that will be worth $35MM, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed, with no second-year player or team option, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Collins, who will turn 26 next month, is coming off his healthiest season in four years. Appearing in 63 games (26 starts) for San Antonio in 2022/23, he averaged 11.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 22.9 minutes per game, posting a solid shooting line of .518/.374/.761.
The 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Collins flashed some promise early in his career in Portland, but saw his career derailed by ankle injuries, which limited him to 11 games in 2019/20 and sidelined him for the entire ’20/21 season.
When Collins signed with the Spurs as a free agent in 2021, he received a three-year, $22MM contract, but it was only fully guaranteed for one full season, with a partial guarantee in year two and a non-guaranteed third year. The former Gonzaga standout only played in 28 games in his first season in San Antonio, but ’22/23 was the best season of his career, putting him in position to become part of the team’s future beyond his current contract.
Collins projects to be part of the Spurs’ starting lineup alongside Victor Wembanyama this fall, as the club looks to reduce the wear and tear on its prized rookie by having him play at power forward instead of center.
As Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype observes (via Twitter), San Antonio initially projected to have upwards of $60MM in cap room in the summer of 2024, but have now dedicated more than half that space to new contracts for Collins and Devin Vassell, who signed a five-year, $135MM rookie scale extension earlier this month.
The exact terms of Collins’ extension aren’t yet known, but it sounds like the Spurs will give him the maximum possible veteran extension for a player earning less than the NBA’s estimated average salary ($11,958,000). The veteran center is eligible to receive a starting salary worth 40% of that figure in his new deal, with an 8% raise in year two — those terms would put him in line to earn approximately $34.82MM on the extension after making $7.7MM in 2023/24.
Collins’ extension will make him ineligible to be traded for six months, Gozlan notes, so the Spurs won’t be able to move him until the 2024 offseason.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks suggested on the latest episode of The Lowe Post podcast that a deal for Collins could be imminent. Lowe advised keeping an eye on the Spurs center as a potential veteran extension candidate, and Marks responded by saying he had heard that rumor “multiple times.”
As expected, the majority of the NBA teams made their roster cuts on Saturday and didn’t wait until Monday’s deadline to set their regular season rosters.
Making those moves on Saturday will ensure the players on non-guaranteed contracts clear waivers on Monday, before the regular season begins. If a team had waited until Monday to waive a player on a non-guaranteed deal, he wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, and the team would be on the hook for two days’ worth of his salary.
After Saturday’s flurry of roster moves, here’s where things stand around the NBA…
Teams whose rosters are within the regular season limits
Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 24 have rosters that comply with the league’s regular season roster limits, which state that clubs can’t carry more than 15 players on standard contracts or three on two-way contracts.
The following 11 teams are right at the limit, carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Charlotte Hornets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Orlando Magic
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
Just because these rosters look ready for the regular season doesn’t mean they’re fully locked in. In fact, it would be a surprise if at least one of these teams doesn’t make a minor tweak before Monday’s regular season roster deadline. That could be as simple as swapping out one two-way player for another.
The following eight teams are carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Sacramento Kings
Several of these teams have luxury tax concerns and will open the season with an open roster spot to keep their projected tax bill in check, though that’s not the case for all of them. The Kings are well clear of the tax, for instance, and could comfortably make a roster addition if they want to.
We’ve covered 19 teams so far. That leaves five more who are within the regular season limits. Those teams are as follows:
- Brooklyn Nets: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
- Detroit Pistons: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
- Golden State Warriors: 13 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
- New Orleans Pelicans: 14 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
- New York Knicks: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
The Nets have two players on non-guaranteed contracts, but neither one (Trendon Watford or Harry Giles) has an Exhibit 10 contract, so they can’t be converted to a two-way contract. Brooklyn could hang onto one or both of Watford and Giles and fill its two-way opening with another player, if it so chooses.
The Pistons have 14 players on fully guaranteed contracts, with Stanley Umude on an Exhibit 10 contract. He appears likely to make the team, but it’s unclear if he’ll remain on the 15-man roster or be converted to a two-way deal. Either way, Detroit would remain one player away from the 18-man limit and could make one more addition before the season begins.
The Warriors reportedly intend to open the regular season with just 13 players on standard contracts, but they’ll only be able to avoid carrying a 14th man for a brief period. League rules require them to get up to 14 players within two weeks.
The Pelicans, who are at risk of being taxpayers for the first time in franchise history, almost certainly won’t add a 15th standard contract, but two-way players don’t count against the salary cap, so I’d expect the team to keep an eye out for someone to fill that spot. New Orleans had five players in camp on Exhibit 10 contracts, but opted to waive all of them on Saturday rather than converting one to a two-way deal.
The Knicks shuffled a handful of players back and forth between the 15-man roster and their two-way slots on Saturday, but they may not be done yet. A two-way contract slot remains open, and they don’t necessarily have to carry all three of their non-guaranteed players (Dylan Windler, Ryan Arcidiacono, and DaQuan Jeffries) on standard contracts into the regular season, though Arcidiacono and Jeffries aren’t eligible to be converted to two-way deals and Windler was just promoted from one.
Teams that still have moves to make before Monday’s deadline
The following teams haven’t yet made their necessary cuts to get within the regular season roster limits:
Houston Rockets: 17 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
Houston has 16 players with full or partial guarantees and will have to trade or waive one of them by Monday’s deadline. Boban Marjanovic, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Victor Oladipo are among the potential odd men out.
The Rockets’ 17th player on a standard contract is Jeenathan Williams, whose deal includes Exhibit 10 language. It would be unusual for the team to keep Williams through Saturday’s waiver deadline if the plan wasn’t for him to be converted to a two-way contract. For that to happen, Houston would have to waive one of its current two-way players (Trevor Hudgins, Darius Days, or Jermaine Samuels) to open up a spot.
Oklahoma City Thunder: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
The Thunder won’t be waiving Aaron Wiggins or Isaiah Joe, who have non-guaranteed contracts, so they can afford to take their roster decision to Sunday or Monday without it costing them any additional money.
Jack White, whose minimum-salary contract features a $600K partial guarantee, looks like the player most at risk of being cut. Davis Bertans and Aleksej Pokusevski are potential dark-horse release candidates, while a trade remains possible too.
Philadelphia 76ers: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
Filip Petrusev only has a partial guarantee and Danny Green is on a non-guaranteed deal, but I suspect the Sixers may end up setting their regular season roster by trading or releasing a player whose salary is fully guaranteed.
Montrezl Harrell, who is expected to miss the season due to a torn ACL, is one player who could be cut. Furkan Korkmaz may be another, after he fell out of the rotation and requested a trade last season. Of course, a James Harden trade could shake up the roster more significantly, but that seems unlikely to happen in the next two days after not materializing for nearly four months.
Phoenix Suns: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
The Suns have 15 players on guaranteed salaries, with Jordan Goodwin‘s deal partially guaranteed. While Phoenix may have a different move in mind, Keon Johnson looks to me like the obvious candidate to be waived. When the Suns acquired Johnson along with Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, and Grayson Allen in its three-way deal with Portland and Milwaukee, the former Tennessee standout was viewed as the least likely of the four to actually play a role for the team.
San Antonio Spurs: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
With 15 players on guaranteed contracts and Charles Bediako on an Exhibit 10 contract, San Antonio’s final preseason move looks pretty clear, barring a last-minute surprise. If they convert Bediako to a two-way deal, the Spurs will be ready for the regular season.
Washington Wizards: 17 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
All 17 Wizards on standard contracts have fully guaranteed salaries and can’t be converted to a two-way deal, so two of them will have to be traded or released.
Veterans on expiring contracts like Delon Wright, Mike Muscala, and Danilo Gallinari are trade candidates, but if the Wizards are forced to make cuts, I expect Xavier Cooks to be in more danger. He didn’t play much in the preseason and wasn’t especially impactful when he did see the floor — he’s also not owed guaranteed money beyond 2023/24.
Two vets on minimum-salary contracts, Anthony Gill and Taj Gibson, dealt with injuries in the preseason and don’t project to have substantial roles on this Wizards team. While the organization seems to value their presence in the locker room, we’ll see if the roster crunch forces one of them out in favor of a younger player with more upside, like Patrick Baldwin.
Hoops Rumors’ roster resources
We consistently maintain and update a number of lists and trackers that are designed to help you keep tabs on NBA rosters. They’re all up to date following Saturday’s cuts.
Those resources, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site or on the “Features” page within our mobile menu, include the following:
- 2023/24 NBA Roster Counts
- 2023/24 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team
- 2023/24 Two-Way Contract Tracker
- 2023 NBA Free Agent Tracker: This tracker will no longer be updated once the regular season begins, but includes every offseason free agent signing, including all the players who were signed-and-waived in recent days.
- 2024 NBA Free Agents By Position/Type
- 2024 NBA Free Agents By Team
Veteran forward Cedi Osman had spent all six of his NBA seasons with the Cavaliers prior to the July trade that sent him to San Antonio. He says he’s thrilled he landed with the Spurs, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required).
“I was happy and celebrating that I would be here in San Antonio with this franchise,” Osman said. “When you step on the court and you see all those (championship) banners, you feel great. It’s another reason to work harder and do anything for this team.”
The 28-year-old, who is on an expiring $6.7MM contract, has impressed his head coach and teammates during training camp and preseason, according to Orsborn.
“He’s a pro,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s a tough kid. He’s confident, a team player. He is just solid.”
Here’s more from the Southwest:
- Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told reporters on Friday that star guard Luka Doncic‘s recovery timeline remains to be determined, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter links). Kidd added that Doncic, who has a mild left calf strain, has resumed light on-court activities. Marc Stein previously reported that the Mavs were optimistic about Doncic’s availability for next week’s regular season opener.
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, Tim Cato writes that he’s more concerned about Doncic’s mysterious thigh injury than his mild calf strain. Cato also touches on a handful of other Mavericks-related topics, including which players he expects to close games.
- Second-year Rockets forward Tari Eason missed his third straight preseason game on Friday vs. Miami due to a bruised lower left leg. He’ll be examined this evening to determine if he’ll miss additional time with the injury, head coach Ime Udoka said (Twitter links via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).
- Christian Clark of NOLA.com (subscriber link) provides some takeaways from the Pelicans‘ 1-3 preseason, writing that the offense — which ranked last in the league over those four games — remains a work in progress. Turnovers and spacing have been particularly problematic, according to Clark, who says New Orleans will miss sharpshooter Trey Murphy, who is expected to be sidelined until at least November following meniscus surgery.
- The Spurs‘ starting five for the regular season will consist of Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Victor Wembanyama, and Zach Collins, head coach Gregg Popovich revealed this week (story via Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News). The 6’9″ Sochan will serve as the de facto point guard in the super-sized lineup, though he expects to share the ball-handling duties. “It doesn’t mean I have to control (the offense) or be the main ball-handler,” Sochan said. “Whoever gets the ball can push it and play with a flow instead of playing slow.”
1:15pm: Birch has officially been waived, the Spurs announced in a press release.
10:09am: Center Khem Birch will be waived by the Spurs, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Birch was part of the return San Antonio received when it traded Jakob Poeltl to Toronto in February. He never appeared in a game for the Spurs, as a right knee issue sidelined him for the rest of the season.
With 16 fully guaranteed contracts, San Antonio had to get rid of at least one of them before Monday’s league-wide cutdown date. Unless Birch gets claimed on waivers, the team will be on the hook for all of his $6,985,000 expiring deal.
The 31-year-old big man appeared in 20 games for Toronto last season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per night. He went undrafted out of UNLV in 2014 and played six NBA seasons with the Magic and Raptors.
Once the move is finalized, the Spurs will have 18 players on their preseason roster with one two-way spot open.