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Grizzlies Decline Luke Kennard’s 2024/25 Team Option

June 29th, 2024 at 4:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies did not exercise Luke Kennard‘s $14.8MM team option for 2024/25 prior to Saturday’s deadline, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

While the move will make Kennard an unrestricted free agent, the two sides are “eager” to discuss a new, restructured deal, according to Wojnarowski.

Kennard was limited to just 39 games (22 starts) this past season for health reasons, including a left knee bone bruise, but was effective when he was available, with averages of 11.0 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in 25.6 minutes per game.

One of the NBA’s best three-point shooters, the 28-year-old wing has made at least 44.6% of his attempts from beyond the arc in each of the past four seasons, including 45.0% in 2023/24.

A $14.8MM salary isn’t unreasonable for a shooter of that caliber, but the Grizzlies would have been above the first tax apron if they had exercised Kennard’s option. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, team salary is now $8MM below the luxury tax line and $11.5MM below the first apron.

The Grizzlies value Kennard and what he brings to the rotation, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link), so a new deal is possible. However, as Cole notes, the veteran sharpshooter figures to draw interest on the open market.

Bulls’ Torrey Craig Picking Up Option

June 29th, 2024 at 4:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls forward Torrey Craig has exercised his $2.8MM player option for next season, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Craig, 33, came to Chicago last summer, signing a two-year contract that paid him $2.5MM this season and included the option for 2024/25. The defensive specialist appeared in 53 games this year, making 14 starts and averaging 5.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.8 minutes per night.

Craig broke into the NBA on a two-way contract with Denver in 2017 and has spent time with Milwaukee, Indiana and Phoenix as well.

It’s unclear what his role might be next season as Chicago appears to be pivoting toward a younger and more athletic team. Craig’s salary could be useful in a trade as Arturas Karnisovas tries to remake the roster.

Craig is the only Bull who had a player option decision to finalize today.

Heat’s Caleb Martin, Thomas Bryant Opting For Free Agency

June 29th, 2024 at 4:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat forward Caleb Martin is turning down his $7.13MM player option for 2024/25 in order to become an unrestricted free agent, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Miami big man Thomas Bryant is also declining a player option and opting for unrestricted free agency, according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Bryant’s option would have paid him about $2.85MM.

Martin’s decision comes as no surprise. He ranked 23rd on our list of this summer’s top 50 free agents. While his 2023/24 numbers (10.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.2 APG) don’t jump off the page, he’s the type of connecting piece that every team could use.

The 28-year-old wing can help out in a lot of different ways, including as a shooter (.368 3PT% during his three years in Miami) and switchable defender. He should draw interest from multiple teams willing to offer him more than he would have earned on his option.

Bryant’s decision, meanwhile, could have gone either way. The Heat envisioned him as Bam Adebayo‘s backup at the five when they signed him last summer, but the fit wasn’t as smooth as either side had hoped.

Bryant averaged 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 11.6 minutes per game across 38 appearances. While he may not receive offers above the minimum on the open market, it makes sense that he’d seek a situation where he might have a larger role.

Of the four Heat veterans who entered the week with player option decisions to make, only Josh Richardson opted in. Martin, Bryant, and Kevin Love all declined their options, though Love, at least, is considered a strong candidate to remain in Miami.

Celtics Decline Team Option On Neemias Queta

June 29th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Celtics have decided to decline the player option of reserve center Neemias Queta, making him a free agent, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (via Twitter).

The move doesn’t necessarily mean Queta’s days in Boston are over, according to Himmelsbach, who suggests the two sides could explore a new deal.

Queta was initially selected by the Kings out of Utah State with the No. 39 pick in 2021. After two seasons in Sacramento, the seven-footer jumped ship to join the eventual champs. He averaged a career highs of 5.5 points and 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per night with the Celtics across 28 contests, earning a promotion from his two-way contract to the 15-man roster.

He was not part of the club’s rotation during its title run, appearing for cameos in just three contests.

Thunder Declining 2024/25 Options On Joe, Wiggins

June 29th, 2024 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder won’t exercise their team options for 2024/25 on wings Isaiah Joe or Aaron Wiggins, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Both options were for very team-friendly rates — Joe’s was worth $2.165MM, while Wiggins’ was for $1.989MM. On the surface, it looks like a surprise that Oklahoma City is turning them down, given that the two players were solid rotation pieces in 2023/24.

However, as Charania notes, the Thunder don’t intend to let either player get away and will work on longer-term deals with both of them.

The thinking is that the Thunder will be able to keep Joe’s and Wiggins’ very small cap holds on the books, use up all of their cap room on other moves, then go over the cap to re-sign the two players to multiyear contracts using their Bird rights (or, in Joe’s case, Early Bird rights).

Joe and Wiggins will be rewarded with raises for the 2024/25 season and may in turn give the Thunder a better long-term rate than they would have if they became free agents a year from now (though that’s not a certainty).

Wiggins can be made a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer, and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) confirms he has received that offer (worth about $2.4MM). However, Joe has too many years of service to be an RFA, so I’d imagine the Thunder have a pretty good idea of what it will take to re-sign him.

Joe has spent the past two seasons in Oklahoma City after being waived by the Sixers. During that time, he has been one of the team’s most reliable shooters off the bench, averaging 8.8 points per game with a .412 3PT% in 151 outings (11 starts; 18.8 MPG).

Wiggins, the 55th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has been with the Thunder for three seasons, averaging 7.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 198 games (53 starts; 18.9 MPG) during that time. His career shooting line is an impressive .514/.394/.780.

Hawks Picking Up Option On Garrison Mathews

June 29th, 2024 at 1:10pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Hawks are picking up their team option on marksman Garrison Mathews for the 2024/25 season, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Scotto notes that this could help clear a path for the Lipscomb alum, 27, to sign a contract extension with the club in the future. As Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets, Mathews will become eligible for extension-eligible on July 6.

In 2023/24, Mathews connected on 44% of his shot attempts from beyond the arc, a career best. The 6’5″ shooting guard averaged 4.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game on a .456/.440/.810 shooting line while appearing in 66 contests for the 36-46 Hawks. The journeyman wing has also played for the Wizards and Rockets since kicking off his career in 2019.

He was flipped to the Hawks late into the 2022/23 season, but finally carved out a consistent bench role as a floor-spacer last year.

Suns, Royce O’Neale Complete Four-Year Deal

June 29th, 2024 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 6: O’Neale’s new contract with the Suns is official, according to the NBA’s transaction log. It has a base value of $42MM, with an additional $2MM in unlikely incentives, Hoops Rumors has learned.

JUNE 29: Free agent forward Royce O’Neale intends to sign a four-year, $44MM contract to remain with the Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The deal won’t feature either a team or player option and will be fully guaranteed, reports Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link). It will be the most lucrative contract of O’Neale’s career, topping his previous four-year, $36MM extension that’s about to expire.

The No. 19 player on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents, O’Neale has been a reliable, durable wing since entering the league in 2017, never appearing in fewer than 69 games in a season across stints in Utah, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. The Suns acquired the former Baylor standout from Brooklyn in a three-team deal at February’s trade deadline.

A versatile defender with the size to match up against bigger wings and forwards, O’Neale isn’t much of an offensive threat, having never averaged more than 8.8 points per game in a season. But he’s a solid three-point shooter, with a career rate of 38.1% from beyond the arc, and he has averaged 3.2 assists per game over the past two seasons.

Because Phoenix projects to operate over the second tax apron in 2024/25, the team would have had no means to replace O’Neale or Grayson Allen with an equivalent player in free agency, so there was an expectation that both players would be re-signed. The Suns extended Allen in April and have now reached a deal to retain O’Neale as well.

Since O’Neale was expected to receive interest on the open market from rival suitors, the belief was that Phoenix would have to go up to three or four years to beat out clubs who might offer a higher starting salary. That turned out to be the case, with the Suns making a guaranteed four-year commitment to the 31-year-old.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets, adding O’Neale’s new deal to the Suns’ books increases their projected team salary for next season to nearly $217MM. The luxury tax line is expected to come in around $171.3MM. There may be more moves to come that push the Suns’ salary in one direction or the other, but based on the current projections – and accounting for tax penalties – it would be the second-most expensive roster in NBA history, says Gozlan.

Hawks’ Saddiq Bey To Become Unrestricted Free Agent

June 29th, 2024 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Hawks have decided against tendering forward Saddiq Bey a qualifying offer, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The move will ensure that Bey becomes an unrestricted free agent rather than a restricted FA.

The 19th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Bey spent his first two-and-a-half seasons with the Pistons before being traded to the Hawks at the 2023 deadline. The 25-year-old has shown promise as a three-and-D wing across his four NBA seasons, averaging 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 30.2 minutes per game across 292 total outings (223 starts).

However, Bey was inconsistent in 2023/24, making a career-low 31.6% of his three-point attempts in 63 games before suffering a left ACL tear in March. Assuming a normal recovery time, that injury is likely to sideline him for a good chunk of the 2024/25 season, if not all of it.

Prior to that knee injury, Bey met the “starter criteria,” increasing the value of his potential qualifying offer from about $6.5MM to $8.49MM.

Given his ongoing injury recovery and the Hawks’ proximity to the tax line, it makes sense that the team would decide against giving Bey that QO, even if it has some interest in retaining him. In a worst-case scenario for the Hawks, he could’ve accepted his QO, earning nearly $8.5MM while spending the 2024/25 season recovering from his torn ACL, then left Atlanta as an unrestricted free agent next summer once he’s healthy.

QO Updates: Cavaliers, Pistons, Christie, Watford

June 29th, 2024 at 11:36am CST by Rory Maher

The Cavaliers have issued qualifying offers to young wings Isaac Okoro and Emoni Bates, which means they’re both heading for restricted free agency, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).

The fifth overall pick of the 2020 draft, Okoro’s QO — essentially just a one-year contract offer that gives the team the right of first refusal — is worth approximately $11.83MM. Bates’ QO, meanwhile, is for another two-way contract; he spent his 2023/24 rookie campaign on a two-way deal with Cleveland.

The Pistons announced in a press release (via Twitter) that they have extended a qualifying offer to forward Simone Fontecchio, making him a restricted free agent as well. Detroit is considered likely to retain the Italian sharpshooter, whose QO is worth about $5.2MM after he met the “starter criteria” in March.

However, the Pistons have decided not to tender QOs to former first-round picks James Wiseman and Malachi Flynn, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links). Both Wiseman and Flynn will be heading for unrestricted free agency.

The second pick of the 2020 draft, Wiseman did not meet the starter criteria, so his QO would have been worth $7.7MM. Flynn’s QO was valued at $5.8MM.

The moves were expected, as clearing the cap holds for Wiseman and Flynn will allow Detroit to create a significant amount of cap room heading into the new league season. Teams can officially begin negotiating with external free agents on Sunday evening.

Here are a couple more players who are heading for restricted free agency:

Lakers guard Max Christie was given a $2.3MM qualifying offer, Scotto reports (via Twitter). The 21-year-old has averaged 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 37.8% from deep over his first two NBA seasons (108 games, 13.5 minutes per contest). Scotto hears Christie is expected to receive interest from rival suitors as a RFA.
Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the Nets plan to give Trendon Watford a QO before Saturday’s deadline (Twitter link). A former undrafted free agent who played college ball at LSU, Watford’s one-year QO is worth just over $2.7MM. He averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on .527/.397/.794 shooting in 63 games last season for Brooklyn (13.6 minutes).

Celtics Picking Up Sam Hauser’s Option, Will Work On Extension

June 29th, 2024 at 10:54am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Celtics are picking up Sam Hauser‘s team option worth $2.1MM ahead of Saturday’s deadline, The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reports.

The move puts Hauser on track for unrestricted free agency in 2025. The Celtics could have made him a restricted free agent this summer by declining his team option.

However, the two sides are expected to begin negotiating a contract extension when the window to do so opens on July 9, according to Himmelsbach. Hauser would remain extension-eligible for the entire 2024/25 league year if he doesn’t agree to a new deal right away.

“I will say we want Hauser to be here for a long time,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said this week.

Hauser became a key player for the Celtics off the bench after originally joining the team on a two-way contract in 2021. This past season, he averaged 9.0 points on 42.4% shooting from deep (5.9 attempts) in 79 regular season games. He appeared in 14 playoff games and helped the Celtics win their 18th title.

We’re tracking all of the 2024/25 team option decisions right here.