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Thunder Decline Muscala’s Team Option, Pick Up Roby’s

June 29th, 2022 at 9:14pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder have declined their 2022/23 team option on Mike Muscala and exercised their option on Isaiah Roby, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links).

Muscala’s option was worth $3.5MM and declining it makes him an unrestricted free agent. Roby’s $1,930,681 contract for next season is currently non-guaranteed, but will become fully guaranteed on July 3, per Smith.

Muscala, 30, had arguably the best season of his nine-year career in ’21/22, averaging 8 PPG and 3 RPG on .456/.429/.842 shooting in 43 games. While those figures are relatively modest, he averaged just 13.8 MPG, so he was quite productive on a per-minute basis.

Ankle surgery in March ended Muscala’s season prematurely, which is why he only appeared in 43 contests last season. Teams looking for a reserve big man capable of making three-pointers (37.7% career) could do worse than Muscala, who will likely be pretty affordable.

In his third season with Oklahoma City, the 6’8″ Roby averaged a career-best 10.1 PPG along with 4.8 RPG on .514/.444/.672 shooting in 45 games (21.1 MPG).

His season was a study in halves, as Roby rarely saw action before the All-Star break (22 games, 15.1 MPG) and spent time in the G League. In the second half of the season when most of the Thunder’s roster was decimated by injuries, Roby averaged 13.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1 SPG and 1 BPG in 23 games, including 20 starts (26.8 MPG).

Wolves Pick Up Team Options On Naz Reid, Jaylen Nowell

June 29th, 2022 at 6:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Timberwolves are picking up the 2022/23 team options on Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Both players will earn $1,930,681 next season, and both deals are non-guaranteed. Reid’s contract will become guaranteed on July 20, while Nowell’s guarantee date is in January.

As Krawczynski notes (via Twitter), both reserves were productive last season, but were essentially depth pieces in the postseason, so neither player has a clear-cut standing on Minnesota’s roster going forward. However, head coach Chris Finch recently praised Nowell, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

“We saw in short stints out there what he’s able to do,” Finch said of Nowell. “He’s an x-factor, he’s a game-changer. I think everybody needs that. He has the ability to create his own basket, he has the ability to attack switching. He’s actually an underrated play-maker.”

Finch added that the Wolves wants to find regular minutes for him going forward.

“… But now we’re trying to figure out how to get a role, a more consistent role, for him, and we want him to feel as a part of our young core as anybody else that’s here,” he said as part of a larger quote.

Both Reid, a center, and Nowell, a guard, will turn 23 this summer. In 77 games (15.6 MPG) last season, Reid averaged 8.3 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .484/.343/.765 shooting, with his minutes, points and rebounds all declining from ’20/21.

Nowell averaged 8.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 2.1 APG on .475/.394/.783 shooting in 62 games (15.7 MPG) in ’21/22. Both players are entering their fourth seasons and have spent their entire careers with Minnesota.

Celtics’ Sam Hauser To Become Restricted Free Agent

June 29th, 2022 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

The Celtics are declining their $1,563,518 club option on Sam Hauser and instead will make him a restricted free agent, a source tells Keith Smith of Spotrac and CelticsBlog (Twitter link).

While Smith doesn’t outright state that Hauser has been given a qualifying offer, that’s the likely outcome given that he says Hauser will become a RFA. According to Smith, Boston plans to work out a longer contract with Hauser in free agency.

Hauser, 24, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics last August after going undrafted out of Virginia. He was promoted to the 15-man roster in February after trades created multiple roster openings.

The 6’8″ forward played limited minutes in 26 NBA games with Boston, but did convert an impressive amount of his three-point attempts (19-44, 43.2%). Hauser was a G League standout for the team’s affiliate in Maine, putting up 20.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.1 SPG on .460/.408/.800 shooting in 13 regular season contest (35 MPG).

Hauser will reportedly be among the young players on Boston’s Summer League roster next month.

Thunder’s Luguentz Dort To Become Restricted Free Agent

June 29th, 2022 at 4:50pm CST by Rory Maher

The Thunder are declining the $1,930,681 team option on Luguentz Dort, making him a restricted free agent, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

A report last week indicated that Oklahoma City would pick up the option, with GM Sam Presti telling Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman that was the likely outcome.

“Obviously it’s our plan to exercise that pending anything different,” Presti said.

Evidently Presti has reevaluated that decision, which isn’t very surprising considering Dort would have drawn considerable interest on the open market as an unrestricted free agent in 2023. Declining the option and making him restricted gives the Thunder the ability to match any offer sheet he receives in a free agent market where not many teams have cap space.

The barrel-chested Dort, who turned 23 in April, has showed continuous improvement after going undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019. He averaged 17.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .404/.332/.843 shooting in 51 games (32.6 MPG) last season while playing solid, switchable defense.

Given his rate of improvement and the NBA’s ever-growing need for wings who can contribute on both ends of the court, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dort sign a contract in the range of $15-20MM annually. Dort is ranked No. 9 on our list of top 50 free agents.

Patty Mills Declines Player Option, Becomes Free Agent

June 29th, 2022 at 4:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Nets guard Patty Mills has declined his $6.2MM player option for next season in order to become a free agent, league sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).

Mills, 33, had a solid season in his first season with Brooklyn in 2021/22, averaging 11.4 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 2.3 APG on .408/.400/.814 shooting in 81 regular season games (48 starts, 29 MPG). He averaged career-highs in three-point makes and attempts, with 2.8 and 7.0, respectively.

Last season was the 13th of Mills’ lengthy NBA career, spending his first couple of seasons with Portland before a 10-year run with the Spurs that included an NBA Championship in 2014. The veteran guard also led the Australian national team to a Bronze Medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.

While Mills isn’t quite as quick as he once was, he holds a career three-point percentage of 38.9% and figures to draw plenty of interest from contending teams. He should receive a contract similar in annual value to the one he declined (taxpayer mid-level exception), but he’ll likely be looking for a multiyear deal to maximize his earnings.

James Harden Declines Option, Plans To Remain With Sixers

June 29th, 2022 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Sixers guard James Harden is declining his $47,366,760 player option for the 2022/23 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. However, Harden intends to re-sign with Philadelphia on a new contract that gives the team some added cap flexibility to improve its roster in free agency, Charania adds.

Multiple reports leading up to Harden’s free agency indicated that he would likely pick up his player option and then sign a short-term extension (possibly two years) with the Sixers.

However, in recent days, there has been increasing chatter about Philadelphia using its full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which would create a hard cap. That would have been difficult with Harden on the books for $47MM+.

If Harden returns on a new multiyear deal that starts no higher than $38MM or so, it would give the 76ers the flexibility to use both their full mid-level and the bi-annual exception, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.

That would clear a path for Philadelphia to make its rumored three-year, $30MM offer to P.J. Tucker using the mid-level exception. Brian Windhorst of ESPN said during an appearance on NBA Today (video link) that the Sixers have been telling agents they’ll have the bi-annual exception available to use.

While Harden’s willingness to negotiate a new deal with a lower starting salary will benefit the Sixers in the short term, we’ll see what it means for the long term. The former MVP and the team may have reached an agreement to tack on an extra year or additional guaranteed money to his new deal in exchange for him turning down his option.

Harden, who was traded from Brooklyn to Philadelphia midway through the 2021/22 season, had a down year by his standards and was hampered by a hamstring injury. However, multiple sources tell Charania that the star guard has resumed his workout and on-court program much earlier than usual this offseason and has communicated to Sixers officials that he’s focused on winning a title next year.

Bobby Portis To Decline Option With Bucks

June 29th, 2022 at 3:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bobby Portis has told the Bucks he will decline his $4.6MM option for next season, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 27-year-old forward will be an unrestricted free agent, but there’s a good chance he’ll stay in Milwaukee on a more lucrative deal, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who says Portis “seems destined” to sign a new contract worth more than $40MM over four years to remain with the Bucks.

The Bucks have Early Bird rights on Portis and can pay him up to $49MM over four seasons, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Marks adds that a new Early Bird contract must cover at least two seasons with no options in the second year.

Portis played an important role in Milwaukee’s title-winning team in 2020/21 and was just as valuable this past season. He moved into the starting lineup — starting 59 of the 72 games he played — and averaged a career-best 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per night.

Portis was the No. 13 player on our list of 2022’s top 50 free agents.

Celtics Exercise 2022/23 Option On Juwan Morgan

June 29th, 2022 at 3:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have picked up their option on Juwan Morgan for next season, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

Morgan’s contract remains non-guaranteed, Smith adds, and he doesn’t have a guarantee date before early January, when all contracts through the league become guaranteed. The option is worth $1,815,677.

The 25-year-old power forward signed a 10-day deal with Boston in late March and then a standard contract on April 9, one day before the end of the regular season. He got into just one game and played a single game for the Raptors as well on a 10-day contract.

Morgan spent his first two NBA seasons with the Jazz, averaging 1.4 PPG while seeing minimal playing time in 50 total games.

Rockets Decline Jae’Sean Tate’s Option, Issue QO

June 29th, 2022 at 2:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 29: The Rockets have declined their option on Tate and issued him a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s an unexpected move, given that Tate would have been extension-eligible if Houston had picked up his option and would still have been on track for restricted free agency in 2023 if the two sides hadn’t agreed to a new deal.

Presumably, the decision signals the Rockets are confident they’ll be able to lock up Tate to a new multiyear contract on terms they like. Charania says the two sides have “mutual interest” in reaching an agreement.

JUNE 25: As anticipated, the Rockets are picking up the option on Jae’Sean Tate‘s contract for next season, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Tate will earn $1,782,621 next season, according to Spotrac.

It was a mere formality that Houston would exercise that option on a rotation player. Tate started 77 of 78 games in which he appeared last season, averaging 11.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 2.8 APG.

Tate will now be a restricted free agent next summer.

Nets Decline Kessler Edwards’ Option, Issue QO

June 29th, 2022 at 1:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets won’t exercise their team option on Kessler Edwards for 2022/23, worth $1,563,518, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. However, Brooklyn has issued a qualifying offer worth a projected $1.84MM, making Edwards a restricted free agent, Smith adds.

The 44th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Edwards showed some promise as a rookie this past season, averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 48 appearances (20.6 MPG). He posted a .412/.353/.842 shooting line and even made 23 starts when the team’s depth was impacted by injuries and COVID-19.

It may seem unusual for the Nets to turn down Edwards’ option in order to tender him a more expensive qualifying offer, but doing so will give the team the opportunity to sign him to a contract that extends beyond 2022/23.

The Pelicans took this approach with Didi Louzada a year ago, declining his second-year option, issuing him a qualifying offer, then re-signing him to a four-year contract worth a little more than the minimum.

Brooklyn didn’t have the ability to offer Edwards more than a two-year contract last offseason because the team was over the cap and used its full mid-level exception on Patty Mills. Now, the Nets have Edwards’ Non-Bird rights, allowing them to go up to four years on a new deal. They’d also be able to match any offer the former Pepperdine standout signs with another team.

Edwards joins Nic Claxton and David Duke as Brooklyn’s restricted free agents.