It's NBA free agency time! With agreements for the new league year allowed to start coming in today at 3:00 PT, it's time to switch over from the moves over the past week and a half (including trades this morning) to this post that will be updated constantly through the summer. The newest deals will be at the top for the sake of ease, with "Command F" definitely helpful to find certain players as the signings pour in.
Like always, I'll cite who first reported the news (Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania, Chris Haynes, etc) on which day, and I'm projecting reported salaries with the standard 5% and 8% raises for new and incumbent teams, respectively, in bold italics. Figures for existing contracts in trades usually come from Keith Smith on Spotrac, and stats are from Basketball Reference, RealGM, or the NBA's advanced stats page. The visual key consists of my estimates/player options/team options/not fully guaranteed.
With the salary cap officially set at $136,021,000 with a luxury tax line of $165,294,000, the First Apron at $172,346,000 million, and the Second Apron at $182,794,000 million, here are some key figures:
- The first year of a max salary for a player with six or fewer years of experience is 25% of the cap, so $34,005,250 this season, which means a highest possible total of 4 years, $146,222,575 million if signing with a new team or 5 years, $197,230,450 million with his previous team.
- The 30% numbers for a player with seven to nine years of experience are $40,806,300 to total 4/$175,467,090 or 5/$236.64 million.
- For players with 10 or more years, the 35% numbers (I hate the term "supermax") are $47.6 million to total 4/$204.68 million or 5/$236,676,540.
- If a team is under the First Apron, the full Mid-Level Exception, aka the MLE, is for $12,405,000 and can go up to $53,341,500 over four years.
- Teams that stay under the Second Apron can use the Taxpayer MLE that was reduced in the new CBA going into effect today, and it can start at $5,000,000 and top out at 2 years, $10.25 million.
- Teams that operate under the salary cap and then reach it can then use the Room MLE that was boosted in the new CBA to start at $7,723,000 and can now go for 3 years, to total $24,327,450.
- The Bi-Annual Exception, or BAE, for teams that didn't use it the previous year can start at $4,516,000 and go for a total of 2 years, $9,257,800.
- Lastly, minimum salaries will range from about $1.1 million for rookies all the way to almost $3.2 million now for those with 10+ years, not too far off of the taxpayer MLE. As always, if a veteran signs just a one year deal at the minimum, he will count the same as a player with 2+ years of experience (about $2 million this year), while earning the full amount.
And now, let the fun begin!
Hart extends with the Knicks: 4 years, $81 million (Woj 8/9)
Now who could've predicted this exact deal when he picked up his player option back in June? Doing it this way gives New York breathing room under the luxury tax than if they simply agreed on a 5 year, $94.2 million deal in free agency since Hart would have had a $16.2 million starting salary in that case.
8/10 update: Fred Katz reports that the last year is a team option, which is in line with a lot of the Knicks' deals in recent years.
Davis extends with the Lakers: 3 years, "$186 million" (Woj 8/4)
Temple joins the Raptors: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/31)
Antetokounmpo returns to the Bucks (Shams 7/28)
Brown extends with the Celtics: 5 years "up to $304 million" (Spears/Shams 7/25)
Like with the rookie extensions earlier in the month, the "up to" language used by Marc Spears is carrying a lot of weight since based on next year's currently projected $142 million salary cap, a 35% raise would be for $288.3M, which I have above. Shams noting that there's no player option at the end is likely the other key negotiating point that was resolved. If the cap raises by the highest possible amount of 10%, then it would come out to $303.7M.
Dowtin returns to the Raptors: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/22)
Dosunmu returns to the Bulls: 3 years, $21 million (Woj 7/21)
With a limited market due to restricted free agency, getting a little less than the Room MLE is a solid outcome for the former 2nd round pick. Only 23, Dosunmu now has some financial security just two years into his career and can hit free agency again at age 26. Chicago maintains their strong group of guards while remaining a little under $2 million away from the tax with this deal, which makes it even more unlikely that they use the Disabled Player Exception they received for Lonzo Ball or the rest of their MLE.
Matthews joins the Hawks: 1 year deal (Woj 7/21)
I'm pretty sure this will be a minimum contract that nets Matthews $3,196,448 as he will turn 37 right before the season.
Noel joins the Kings: 1 year, minimum, contract (Woj 7/18)
The 10 year veteran will make a subsidized $3,196,448 to provide a defensive center option off the bench. Noel hasn't been as effective in recent years but is only 29 and can compete with his fellow top-6 pick from the 2013 draft on a minimum, Len.
Yurtseven joins the Jazz: 2 year deal (Team announcement, Marks with details 7/17)
Based on Marks reporting that it's a $2.8 million starting salary, I'm projecting that they're using all of their remaining cap space and the full 5% raise here, though Scotto adds that only the first year has "a strong partially guaranteed salary." After Utah's offer sheet for Reed was matched, I guess they were determined to add another big man to their mix of Walker Kessler, John Collins, Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, Kelly Olynyk, and Luka Samanic. Yurtseven has great size and some intriguing skills to go with it, so he could replace Olynyk as the primary backup after this season with the veteran in the last year of his contract.
Phoenix continues busy day with further bets on themselves (Woj 7/16)
Suns receive:
2024 Nuggets 2nd round pick
2025 2nd round pick (Worst of Bucks, Magic, or Pistons)
2028 Celtics 2nd round pick (protected 31-45)
Magic receive:
Right to swap 2026 1st round picks (after Wizards' right to swap)
Just like the trade with Memphis 10 days ago, Phoenix is giving up further control of a pick that already had a swap involved in order to add extra 2nd rounders for trades. None of these three picks are going to be valuable given how good the reigning champs will be this season and the stipulations on the latter two, but this is an easy way for the Suns to continue to replenish the coffers after using all of their 2nd rounders in the Beal trade.
That lack of upside is why Orlando was okay giving these up, and they're hoping that Phoenix (and Washington due to the original pick swap) will be on the way down by the 2025-26 season to make a potential move up in the 1st round. Durant will be 37 by that time, and he and Ayton will be entering the last year of their current contracts.
Bol joins the Suns (Woj 7/16)
Phoenix reduces luxury tax bill (Shams 7/16)
Spurs receive:
2025 2nd Pelicans round pick
Cash considerations
Suns receive:
2024 2nd round pick (protected 31-49 and 55-59)
Replacing Payne with a one year veteran minimum lowers Phoenix's tax bill by around $17.6 million, so this is well worth it for them, even if they do lack a "traditional point guard." It is somewhat of a surprising outcome after guaranteeing Payne's contract earlier this offseason, but this way they don't need to worry about the $2 million dead cap hit if he was waived (or $666,667 if he was stretched), and they create a decent sized Trade Exception that is equal to his salary.
This now leaves Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton as the only remaining Suns from the 2021 Finals team on the roster just two years later, but Payne's shortcomings were hard to overcome in the most important playoff games. They arguably lost the Nuggets series in Game 2 when Chris Paul got hurt with the lead in the 3rd quarter before they got torched in Payne's minutes (-16 in 16:42). The defensive upside of Goodwin as the fourth combo guard with Beal, Booker, and Gordon is more appealing anyway.
San Antonio isn't going to be playing those high leverage games yet, so the veteran guard could potentially help them besides as a way to add more draft capital. Perhaps Payne could beat out Devonte' Graham for the backup point guard spot to help set up their young core. We'll see what kind of protections are on the pick they're sending back since they're helping Phoenix out here by using up most of their remaining space.
7/17 update: In the Spurs' official announcement they confirmed that the 2024 2nd rounder is protected, but they didn't specify what kind. They already owe this year's 2nd to Boston with a 31-54 (instead of the usual 55 due to there being only 59 picks next year), so we'll see if this is a similarly "fake" pick with protections around that. They're getting the 2025 Pelicans 2nd that Phoenix just got from Memphis earlier this month.
7/18 update: Marks reports that the Suns sent out $5.7 million as part of the trade, which covers most of Payne's salary, and confirmed that the 2nd they're receiving is protected 31-49 and 55-59. That's a pretty narrow window with the most protections possible so that it won't convey in all likelihood. Boston was already only getting the pick if San Antonio had one of the five best records (not counting Philadelphia's forfeited pick), and now Phoenix needs them to have one of the six to ten best records.
Bazley joins the Nets: 1 year deal (Woj 7/14)
I'm projecting the minimum here after he couldn't secure a role in Phoenix after Oklahoma City sent him out. Now he goes from Durant's current team to his previous team after starting their careers with the same team, and early on it seems like the versatile forward would be a big part of the Thunder's future plans. Now he's likely making $2,165,000 as a four year veteran coming off of his rookie contract.
Stewart extends with Pistons: 4 years, $64 million (Woj 7/10)
This may be on the high side for a non-All Star big who would only be a restricted free agent next year, but a nice thing about this is that the starting salary is actually slightly smaller than what his $15,800,139 cap hold would be. They're still in line to have space for a max contract and then some next year. As they continue to pour a ton of resources into the front court with the overpayment of Marvin Bagley, drafting of Jalen Duren, and trading for James Wiseman, Stewart has actually shown the ability to adapt and improve to earn this deal. He jacked up his 3 point attempts to 4.1 per game with a slightly below average hit rate of 32.7, and that will be important since Detroit will likely need to pigeonhole him as a power forward even more for at least the near future.
7/12 update: Smith reports that $4 million of the deal is tied to incentives, it's a flat $15 million per season, and the last year is actually a team option. That's pretty friendly for Detroit.
Rockets finalize turning Brooks sign-and-trade into a five-way deal (Team announcement 7/8)
Rockets receive:
2027 Grizzlies 2nd round pick (via Clippers)
Grizzlies receive:
Draft rights to Vanja Marinkovic (from Clippers to satisfy "touch" requirements, per Keith Smith on 7/9)
Hawks receive:
2025 Timberwolves 2nd round Pick (via Rockets)
2028 Rockets 2nd round Pick
Cash considerations (from Thunder)
Thunder receive:
2024 Rockets 2nd round pick
2029 Rockets 2nd round pick
2030 Rockets 2nd round pick
Clippers receive:
I'm repeating some details that were previously covered, but it felt necessary to put every part of this behemoth in one place. For one thing, it's not immediately clear why the KJ Martin trade had to be a part of this whole thing because aggregating the $14.2 million between Mills, Garuba, Christopher, and Washington is already enough to match salaries for the reported $80 million Brooks is getting, even with a front-loaded structure. The only apparent benefit is for Houston to mention that they picked up two 2nd rounders for him in order to gloss over the fact that they sent out FIVE in this move, along with three 1st round selections since 2021 in Garuba, Christopher, and Washington.
The Rockets did add one 2nd in the original Mills trade from the Nets at least, but the high cost of his inclusion to make this work is still confounding because it appears that they didn't use their remaining ~$4.3 million in cap room before executing this deal, which now takes them over the cap. It seems that they set this up in order to use around $25 million in space on Brook Lopez (his starting salary back in Milwaukee) and then pull off this sign-and-trade to go over the cap. That likely would've required Jae'Sean Tate, whose $6.5 million salary is nearly the same as Mills', being sent to OKC instead to make the math work. I'm guessing that a younger player like Tate wouldn't have required three 2nds to take on, but once the Lopez plan fell through, the pivot was to this and the net loss of two picks instead.
Houston then used most of their remaining space to give Jock Landale and Jeff Green matching $8 million starting salaries with non-guaranteed future years, which might be planned to match money in future trades. I'd venture a guess that Green's deal was originally structured to fit into the Room MLE of $7,723,000 after the big moves, with Landale purely a fallback after losing out on Lopez. Now that everything is finalized, it would appear that the only benefit of following through with this complicated multi-team deal (in which they're arguably overpaying Brooks) is retaining that Room MLE to use elsewhere and getting the draft rights to Kaba, who is already 27.
As speculated below, Memphis now creates a Trade Exception of $8,914,800 in addition to a 21 year old former #24 pick. Oklahoma City and Atlanta can now complete their ironic trade listed underneath this, and it's pretty good maneuvering for the Hawks to come out ahead by one pick after all of this. Of course, this is business as usual by the Thunder to add even more picks to their treasure trove at the cost of a reported $1.1 million sent out and eating dead salary.
Update: As the cherry on top, Woj just reported with MacMahon that the deal is now for $86 million (projected above) with incentives that could get it to $90 million. I guess that explains the Martin inclusion, but why did they need to add salary to an already done deal that was costly?!
OKC and Atlanta swap leftovers from previous trades (Woj 7/8)
Thunder receive:
Future 2nd round pick
Hawks receive:
So to recap: Houston apparently took in Mills from Brooklyn just to aggregate him with Garuba, Washington, and Christopher in the Brooks sign-and-trade...and now Mills is being trade for two of those three players plus Gay, whom Atlanta just acquired in the Collins salary dump this month. What a funny conclusion to this saga of moving around money. It remains to be seen how Houston ends up using their Room MLE to have necessitated doing things in this way.
Between this, the Bertans trade, the Oladipo trade, and the original Mills trade, the Thunder continue to just stockpile draft assets without affecting their books in the future. It looks like they'll just eat a good amount of dead salary for this season between them all because they have an overflowing roster heading into camp, but there's a chance that Garuba or Washington could impress enough to get their options picked up. After all, they were 1st round picks within the last two years for a reason.
Then again, I also thought the Hawks would be taking a free look at them, but apparently they would rather just create even more flexibility under the luxury tax and create another small Trade Exception. We'll see if this leads to them using the full MLE or not.
Reed to sign offer sheet with the Jazz: 3 years, $24 million (Shams 7/8)
This would be using Utah's Room MLE as Danny Ainge continues to try to stuff his roster with skilled bigs. Woj reported it as $23 million and added that the first season is fully guaranteed with the following years guaranteed for $15.7 million if Reed's team advances to the conference semi-finals in 2023-24, which of course is more likely for the 76ers than the Jazz. Philadelphia has until the end of tomorrow to match.
7/9 update: Somewhat surprisingly, the 76ers are matching the offer sheet to keep Reed along with Harrell and Bamba behind Embiid. Bball Paul does have some versatility to play power forward at least.
Saric joins the Warriors: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/6)
Warriors fans, myself included, were starting to get nervous about how long this was taking after this pairing was heavily rumored in the days leading up to free agency, with Slater even saying that there was mutual interest in a buyout after Saric was moved to OKC at the trade deadline. This fit almost made too much sense not to happen, though, because Golden State has plenty of minutes available up front, and he should fit in easily in order to secure a raise on this year's subsidized $2,709,849. While I hate to be overly simplistic with European players, Saric could end up being a better version of the Nemanja Bjelica signing in their 2021-22 championship season. Both came to the NBA as versatile forwards before growing into stretch big roles, and their ability to make reads for the right pass is ideal in the Warriors system. As a career 36% 3 point shooter (37.4% from his second year on), Saric might not have quite the same range, but he should be stronger on defense and off the bounce, ideally more like Otto Porter Jr. was.
While I hate being overly simplistic with European players, this meme format from @GSWReddit is too good pic.twitter.com/xTuh77yVmi
— Dave Giovanazzi (@SF_DavidGio) July 8, 2023
Harrell returns to the 76ers: 1 year deal (Woj 7/6)
If it's just for the minimum again as expected, he'll earn a subsidized $2,891,467 as an 8 year veteran. Between this and the Bamba signings, it would seem they are far apart from Paul Reed in restricted free agency talks.
Phoenix moves around picks and salary (Woj 7/6)
Grizzlies receive:
Suns receive:
2025 Pelicans 2nd round pick
2028 and 2029 Grizzlies 2nd round picks
I feel for a young player like Todd who was just traded from Washington to Phoenix last month and spoke with the media yesterday about how excited he was to play with Bradley Beal and Jordan Goodwin still. This is a nifty way for Phoenix to reduce their large luxury tax bill, though, as they were fresh out of 2nd round picks due to that trade. That deal also meant they already weren't in control of their picks in those years, so potentially dropping further is a small concession. Depending on how many players they keep on their final roster, this will reduce their tax payment by around $8 million.
The spreading out of these swaps is a fun wrinkle. Both Memphis and Phoenix probably expect to be better than each other this season (and safely ahead of Washington), which in theory makes that swap less valuable. But having the other one as far out as possible is a great move since you have no idea how good either team will be by then. It is somewhat of a curious deal for a Grizzlies team that is already full on roster spots and now only owns three 2nd round picks over the next seven seasons, but they do have plenty of leeway from the tax line. They can take a look at the 21 year old who was the #31 pick in 2021 and decide what to do about possibly eating the small salary after training camp.
Liddell signs new deal with Pelicans: 3 years, $6.2 million (Shams 7/6)
They had last year's #41 pick on a two-way contract after he tore his ACL in summer league, so this is a great sign for his recovery. I thought he was underrated in the draft and now could be a stretch four for them at slightly less than the vet min as they try to skirt the tax.
Murray extends with Hawks: 4 years, "$120 million" (Haynes 7/6)
$114 million is the highest that Murray could sign for (and what I'm using here) based on 140% of this year's salary, so the reported number is based on incentives. Shams confirmed it and added that the last year is a player option. Most pundits thought that even the new extension rules allowing it to go this high wouldn't be enough, but it's understandable to lock this in now instead of waiting for free agency next summer.
Holiday joins the Rockets: 1 year deal (Woj 7/6)
I'm projecting that Holiday is just taking the minimum again, which wouldn't affect Houston's remaining cap space of potentially over $12 million depending on the timing and structures of their other moves. With five years of experience to his name, he would earn a subsidized $2,346,614.
7/11 update: Smith confirms that it is the minimum, and there is only $1 million guaranteed.
Green returns to the Bucks: 3 year deal (Shams 7/6)
With only the first year reportedly fully guaranteed, I'm projecting minimum with the last year as a team option so that Milwaukee could potentially sign him to a longer deal in restricted free agency again. Green has shown nice potential as a knockdown shooter for them, and he comes at a slightly cheaper price than the vet minimum for a team in the repeater tax. It's always nice to see a former two-way contract player get promoted with some guaranteed money, and Scotto reports that it will be for three years.
Bamba joins the 76ers: 1 year deal (Woj 7/5)
Williams joins Mavericks in three-team sign-and-trade: 4 years, $53 million (Shams 7/5)
Mavericks gets:
2025 Raptors 2nd round pick (via Spurs)
2028 Heat 2nd round pick (via Spurs)
Celtics get:
2024 2nd round pick (Better of Bulls or Pelicans, via Spurs)
2030 Mavericks 2nd round pick
Right to swap 2025 2nd round picks (per Adam Himmelsbach)
Spurs get:
When looking at how close Dallas was to the First Apron this morning after Thybulle report below, the decision to pick up Bullock's partially guaranteed contract stood out. This works out well for them to get Williams at the equivalent of the MLE without having to use it, and now we'll see how much the Thybulle offer sheet is for, given their remaining breathing room. Now the Mavs have a 3+D wing who is younger and stronger than Bullock to provide more versatility around their defensively challenged stars.
It's surprising that Woj reported that both the Mavs and Celtics are getting two 2nd rounders after initially saying 2024, 2025, and 2028 picks to Boston, which Dallas does not have to offer. I wonder if San Antonio values adding a vet like Bullock to their young team, or if that pick swap really cost two picks in addition to taking on salary? Either way, renting out their cap space for that swap helps them get to the salary floor, and they could potentially flip the veteran to a playoff team down the line. With the move, Bullock picks up and extra $524,480 thanks to his trade kicker, per Gozlan, so I included that 5% in the value above.
This is a tough loss for Boston but an understandable one. Matching this price would add about $40 million to their luxury tax bill (around $35 million when factoring in the vet minimum to replace him), so they instead add a couple of picks and gain a Trade Exception worth half of Williams' new salary due to Base Year Compensation.
7/12 update: The deal is now official, and the Spurs' official announcement has the details on the picks, which I updated above. In the end, they're sending out three extra picks that they owned, so they must really value Bulock and that unprotected swap that could come after Doncic might not be in Dallas. This is more than fair for the Mavs in net pick value, even with that risk.
Thybulle to sign offer sheet with Mavericks: 3 years, $33 million (Haynes 7/5)
They could still offer as much as the full MLE to offer, but that would likely require another move such as offloading JaVale McGee's contract to stay under the First Apron.
Update: Shams has the details, and it will be for most of the MLE at 3/$33M. Based on the Williams number above, they likely need a minor move elsewhere to make this possible.
7/6 update: Woj reports that Portland is matching the offer sheet to retain Thybulle at this price and that the third year is a player option. They're now about $3 million away from the luxury tax, so I wouldn't expect them to use the MLE until knowing what their finances will be like after a Lillard trade.
Beasley joins the Bucks: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/3)
I'm projecting the minimum here because Milwaukee is still close to the Second Apron. After seemingly being exactly what the Lakers needed at the trade deadline as a high-volume shooter, Beasley's struggles led to his $16,524,106 team option getting declined and now this. The 7 year veteran will now make a subsidized $2,709,849 and can hit the open market again next year with a prominent role on the Bucks likely to his name.
And as I finish typing that, Woj confirms that it is the minimum.
Lopez joins the Bucks: TBD on details (Shams 7/3)
Plumlee returns to the Clippers: 1 year, $5 million (Woj 7/3)
I thought he would get more after being good for LA after the trade and into the playoffs, but I guess he only had offers at around the taxpayer MLE due to being 33.
Craigh joins the Buls: 2 year deal (Woj 7/3)
Edwards to extend with the Timberwolves: 5 years, "up to $260 million" (Woj 7/3)
Banton joins the Celtics: 2 year deal (Shams 7/3)
This is surely for the minimum since Banton has shown intriguing promise but hasn't played a ton over his first two years. Giving the extra year could speak to that upside, but we'll see how much is guaranteed.
Joseph joins the Warriors: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/2)
It's a parade of 10+ year veterans making the subsidized $3,196,448 minimum today. Joseph fits their need for a pass-first third point guard, and with the ages of their main guards, he could get a decent amount of minutes. With a career 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio (rounding up), he fits what Steve Kerr likes in backup guards, and he improved to 39.7% on 3's upon arriving in Detroit 2.5 years ago.
Holiday joins the Nuggets: 1 year deal (Woj 7/2)
With their taxpayer MLE already use, this is all but certain to be a minimum deal as the same situation as Zeller earlier in the day.
Walker joins the Nets: 1 year deal (Woj 7/2)
They have the full MLE available, so I'm surprised there aren't reported details of him getting that versus the minimum, which agents are usually less willing to announce. Walker got the taxpayer MLE for on a one year deal and had some big moments in the playoffs after a solid season, so you would think that he would at least get the same.
Zeller joins the Pelicans: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/2)
As a 10-year veteran, he gets a subsidized $3,196,448 to provide big man depth.
Gordon joins the Suns: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/2)
After the Clippers waived his $20,917,902 non-guaranteed contract, he's going with his subsidized $3,196,448 minimum to chase a ring. Duane Rankin reports that this is another 1+1 deal, and it is the cherry on top of Phoenix's excellent bargain bin shopping over the weekend. I guess the benefit of being a top-heavy roster is that you can offer the opportunity for a large role on the big stage in order to possibly cash in next year. That and including a player option for security is better than what most teams offering the minimum can provide. As many have noted, this comes 11 years after Gordon signed an offer sheet with Phoenix in restricted free agency before New Orleans matched it, so it's been a long time coming.
Bridges returns to Hornets: 1 year, $7.9 million (Woj 7/2)
Clarkson to renegotiate and extend: 2 years, $41 million added on for $55 million total (Shams 7/2)
Since I always love a renegotiate-and-extend, I'm interested in seeing if @johnhollinger's creative idea of doing that to have a sharper declining structure than usual is the move for Clarkson considering Utah used most of their cap space on Collings https://t.co/eRB90Ql0YI
— Dave Giovanazzi (@SF_DavidGio) June 29, 2023
7/8 update: MacMahon reports that there $1.1 million of the deal is tied into incentives, resulting in cap hits of $23.5, $14.1, and $14.3 million. My projection above was pretty close based on the originally reported number.
Sabonis to renegotiate and extend: 4 years, $195 million added on for $217 million total (Woj 7/1)
As I postulated on Thursday, it seems that sacrificing the #24 pick to get off of Richaun Holmes' $12 million salary last week was mostly just to have more flexibility to lock up Sabonis. If they had waited until next summer, a 4 year max deal from them is projected to be about $191 million while they risked losing him to another team on a potential 4/$183.2 million deal. Structuring it this way with the $8.6 million raise now secures their future together, provides him with a little extra money, and spreads out the $195 million in new money as $186.4 million over those four years. I wondered if he might give a little bit of a hometown discount in order to get the big payday a year early, but he gets to have his cake and eat it, too. Sacramento is determined to make sure last season was not a blip on the radar and now has last year's Third team All-NBA center locked up.
7/9 update: Smith notes on Twitter that $13 million of this contract are still based on incentives (Sabonis hit them last year with his All-Star/All-NBA selections), and the cap hits are almost identical to what I projected.
Exum joins the Mavericks: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/1)
This is nice to see after the former #5 pick had his career derailed by injuries. This is almost assuredly the minimum, and Exum will earn $2,528,232 since he only has 6 years of experience despite being drafted in 2014. He's coming off of a really nice year for Adriatic League champions KK Partizan, whom I've mentioned three times now this week with potential players coming over, with averages of 12.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 0.8 steals on 52.1%/38.8%/84.7% shooting in only 21.9 minutes.
7/14 update: Scotto reports that there is actually a second, non-guaranteed year with the deal that is for $6.15 million, which would indicate that it's using part of the MLE. That's notable since it gives Dallas another year of team control at the cost of taking them slightly closer to the tax and first apron since two-year minimums are not subsidized by the league for the smaller cap hit.
Len returns to the Kings: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/1)
Robinson returns to the Heat: 1 year, minimum contract (Smith 7/1)
Green joins the Rockets: 1 year, $6 million 2 years, $16 million (Scotto 7/1)
7/7 update: Marks reports that Green is actually getting a 2/$16M deal with flat cap hits and the second year non-guaranteed. That means it has to come out of cap space, so Houston is down to about $4.3 million there while maintaining the Room MLE.
7/9 update: This numbers keeps going higher as Scotto now adds that Green also has $1.6 million in bonuses that are considered "likely." Since the second year (and Landale's contract structure) was added to seemingly be used in a future trade, I wonder if the incentives are tied to team success and that they are only deemed likely due to Denver winning it all last season, and this is. away to increase Green's cap number for trades to $9.6 million while keeping his base salary the same. That way it likely wouldn't cost them anything since they had some unused cap space that I described in the whole Brooks fiasco on 7/8 above.
DiVincenzo joins the Knicks: 4 yeras, $50 million (Woj 7/1)
Mamukelashvili returns to the Spurs: 1 year, minimum contract (Woj 7/1)
As the team with the most remaining cap space with up to $26.1 million, San Antonio could use it all up and then make this official because it's only for the minimum. Mamukelashvili will earn $2,196,969 as a two year veteran who has flashed some offensive skill for a center.
Clippers at Martin (Woj 7/1)
Clippers receive:
Rockets receive:
2026 and 2027 2nd round picks
Well, I was right in my speculation below about Martin being on the move, but it ended up being in a new deal. LA had a couple of 2nd rounders from other teams, so we'll see what exactly they gave up in taking this great chance on a young high-flyer who fits right into the Reggie Jackson Trade Exception.
Update: Law Murray reports that it is a 2026 pick and the 2027 Grizzlies 2nd. Based on my notes on their inventory, I'm guessing it's the 2nd best of their own, the Celtics', the Heat's, or the Pacers'.
White joins the Thunder: 2 year deal (Shams 7/1)
McDaniels joins the Raptors: 2 years, $9.3 million (Shams 7/1)
This is for the BAE, and I'm surprised that Philadelphia isn't bringing him back for more with full Bird Rights. McDaniels joining Toronto's roster of long-armed wings is almost too perfect.
Westbrook returns to the Clippers: 2 years, $7.9 million (Woj 7/1)
This is the most that they could offer him with only Non-Bird Rights, and the 1+1 structure could allow Westbrook to sign a bigger deal with Early Bird Rights next year or hit free agency with a potentially more open market. Whether or not this might be related to a possible Harden trade is interesting to think about after their breakup during their second go around as teammates a few years ago.
Landale joins the Rockets: 4 years, $32 million (Shams 7/1)
This is a surprising pivot after missing out on Lopez. Quite the difference in salary between Landale and what Phoenix paid his replacements after letting him become an unrestricted free agent. Woj added that only the first season is guaranteed, however, and Gozlan reported that it's a flat deal instead of starting at the lowest amount possible, $7,441,860.
Brooks joins the Rockets in sign-and-trade: 4 years, $80 million (Woj on salary, Iko on S&T 7/1)
Rockets receive:
Stein reported the likelihood of the VanVleet and Brooks pairing this week, and Shams said earlier today that a deal was close. I wonder if they might front-load this with their remaining space (starting at $21,621,622) because going this many years on a veteran isn't ideal with all of the young wings that they have.
Update: Ha! Woj had a quick follow up tweet that it will be descending in salary. Between this and the Landale signing that occurred at the same time, that will just about do it with their cap room, and they'll only have the Room MLE from here.
The order of operations and the other halves of both of their trades below is something to watch for because they can't just take Mills into cap room and sign these players to the reported numbers. Shams mentioned the Brooks deal being a possible sign-and-trades before Woj reported an agreement, so that could be one work around. Brooklyn's had interest in K.J. Martin, so them taking on another salary with him could also be what's happening.
Second update: Iko confirms that it is a sign-and-trade with Christopher headed to Memphis, creating a nice Trade Exception for the Grizzlies equal to the difference between his and Brooks' previous $11,400,000 salary (due to BYC). That's better than just letting him leave, even if they don't hold onto yet another recent 1st rounder that Houston is jettisoning.
Houston adds another veteran (Shams/Iko 7/1)
Rockets receive:
2028 Bucks 2nd round pick
Nets receive:
2024 Rockets 2nd round pick (protected 31-55)
I guess this is the other shoe to drop with Houston's Atlanta trade that's sending out a comparable amount of salary. As a former Spurs player and assistant, Udoka knows Mills well, and the Rockets are definitely prioritizing older voices after their young team has been had so many bad miscues the last few years.
Update: Kelly Iko now reports that Mills is actually being re-routed to Memphis as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade, which is confusing on all fronts. We'll have to see what the expanded deal is to make sense of it all.
7/2 update: Woj reports that Mills will end up in OKC as a result of this salary dump, so I guess the Spurs connection wasn't the reasoning after all. It seems that Houston is taking Mills into their cap room just to aggregate him with Christopher to Memphis and Garbua and Washington to Atlanta in order to match Brooks' new salary in the sign-and-trade. This way, they could still use over $12 million in cap space and then add Brooks in a S&T and Green with the Room MLE.
7/8 update: Iko has reported on the various 2nd rounders coming and going with Houston's moves, so I updated the details above. Not surprisingly, Brooklyn is giving them a 2nd to take on this salary with a "fake" pick going the other way since teams technically have to send something back. However, the Rockets are including three of their own 2nd rounders (2024, 2029, and 2030) to the Thunder to get them to take Mills in the Brooks sign-and-trade once that's completed. The 2024 pick was tied to their protected 1st rounder already owed to OKC if the pick landed in the top-4, but now the Thunder are looking at adding both the Rockets' 1st and 2nd round picks in this upcoming draft.
Jerome joins the Cavaliers: 2 years, $5 million (Woj 7/1)
Woj reported it as "$5 million," but I'm projecting that he's just rounding up from Jerome's minimum to make him and his agent look better.
7/9 update: Apparently I was wrong, as Smith reports that Cleveland surprisingly used part of the BAE to give Jerome slightly more than his minimum with $2.4 and $2.6 million cap hits. Golden State had the right to match in restricted free agency after his two-way contract, but that much guaranteed money was likely too much for a third string guard with their repeater tax.
Powell returns to the Mavericks: 3 years, $12 million (Woj 7/1)
This brings them just about at the limit of using the full MLE while staying under the First Apron. Perhaps the Curry signing was for the equivalent of the BAE but will come out of the MLE instead.
7/10 update: MacMahon reports that the last year is a player option, and Smith adds that it's for a flat $4 million each season.
Crowder returns to the Bucks, TBD on details (Haynes 7/1)
We'll see what the number ends up being with them likely still trying to stay under the Second Apron, but getting close to it with his Bird Rights makes more sense than by using the taxpayer MLE that would hard-cap them at that level.
Utah sends Jones to Cleveland (Woj 7/1)
Cavaliers receive:
Jazz receive:
Cash considerations
Update: Marks noted that since Jones signed a two year deal through the veteran minimum last year, it can just be taken in through minimum exception. I forgot that it was a 1+1 that the Lakers gave him last year after his breakthrough with the Kings the previous season. And Hollinger reports that Cleveland is just sending the bare minimum of $110,000 to relieve Utah of a roster spot and possible backup player.
Wagner returns to Magic: 2 years, $16 million (Woj 7/1)
This could be executed after they use up their remaining $9 million in cap room since his cap hold is so small, and they'd still have the room MLE for another potential signing.
7/12 update:
Atlanta adds recent 1st rounders (Shams 7/1)
Hawks receive:
2025 Timberwolves 2nd round Pick
2028 Rockets 2nd round Pick
Rockets receive:
Draft rights to Alpha Kaba (60th pick in 2017)
Cash considerations
Houston has a roster crunch coming with all of their recent 1st rounders, but giving up capital to move off of two of them is disappointing. Lauren Williams adds that the draft rights to Kaba are included, but he is 27 already and not really a prospect. They already had around $25 million in cap room, so they must be planning on another big move. *Insert Brian Windhorst "Now why would they do that?" meme*
If it is a case of a salary dump with Atlanta not sending a player back, they have the big John Collins TE to absorb salaries along with part of the Moe Harkless TE that would fit one of the contracts. That latter TE was also used at the deadline to take in Garrison Matthews from Houston when they salary dumped Justin Holiday...which created the TE used to absorb Rudy Gay in the Collins trade. Now they can get a free look at two young players while presumably adding an extra 2nd rounder or two.
7/8 update: Iko has reported on the various 2nd rounders coming and going with Houston's moves, so I've added the two picks that Atlanta is getting in exchange for cash to the details above. Daniel Hackett previously reported that it will be $1.1 million, so this is a great piece of business by the Hawks.
Ball to extend with the Hornets: 5 years, "up to $260 million" (Shams 7/1)
Reaves returns to the Lakers: 4 years, $54 million (Shams 7/1)
It was reported as $56 million, but I'm pretty sure it has to be the same $54 million that Herb Jones got since they were under the same Early Bird situation with two years of experience. Since the two young Texas teams were the only ones who could give Reaves the Arenas max offer sheet, I guess he got word from them that they didn't want to tie up their cap space only for LA to inevitably match it. At least he's getting a big payday after just two years in the league either way, and now they're getting a bargain.
Update: Yossi Gozlan and Marks both confirmed the structure I suspected.
Indiana makes move for Toppin (Woj 7/1)
Pacers receive:
Knicks receive:
Two 2nd round picks
Indiana had been checking in on all sorts of forwards, with this kind of moving making a ton sense then, but this is a little surprising after drafting Jarace Walker last week. Of course, the rookie will probably need time to get up to speed, and they can play together in smaller lineups at times. Toppin is going into the last year of his rookie contract anyway, and it's not like this is some huge cost to acquire a fun, young player who should thrive next to Haliburton. After all, they just picked up two 2nd rounders in that draft day trade involving Walker, and they still have over $7 million in cap room.
There have been rumors around New York making this move for a while, but I thought they'd get more out of it, even with just one year remaining on his deal. It does give them more cushion to use the full MLE on someone like rumored target Donte DiVincenzo without worrying about the luxury tax, let alone the First Apron. They create a Trade Exception worth his salary at least, but now the question is if they keep Obi's brother Jacob on the two-way contract they agreed to after he went undrafted.
Beverley joins the 76ers: 1 year, minimum contract (he announced, Haynes with details 7/1)
The 11 year vet will earn $3,196,448 in a reunion with his former Rockets GM, Daryl Morey. He's likely taking a little less in order to join a possible contender where he can step into a large role once his former teammate Harden is traded. While it will be a small backcourt, Beverley's defensive intensity should pair well with Tyrese Maxey.
Lopez returns to the Bucks: 2 years, $48 million (Shams 7/1)
Based on this number, I'd guess that Houston was offering Lopez just about the rest of their remaining cap room over, and Milwaukee upped their offer to match it. Credit to them for going well into the repeater tax in order to retain their core, and going only two years at this high of an annual salary makes sense for the 35 year old DPOY runner-up. They could still potentially use the taxpayer MLE but will soon approach the Second Apron that might scare them away.
Russell returns to the Lakers: 2 years, $37 million (Woj 7/1)
Going with a 1+1 here at a decently high salary is a nice compromise after Russell's uneven postseason. Since Reaves is limited by the Arenas rule to a starting salary of the full MLE, LA can now safely match any offer sheet without worrying about hitting the First Apron.
Bryant joins the Heat: 2 years, minimum contract (Woj 7/1)
Giving the second year will have him count an extra $500K against their tax bill, but this could be a really nice addition as a backup big who provides shooting like they like. It shouldn't be too hard to be an upgrade on what Dewayne Dedmon gave them last year.
Micic joins the Thunder: 3 years, $23.5 million (Woj 7/1)
Like with Vezenkov below, this will could be using the Room MLE or the rest of their cap space for the 52nd pick back in 2014. The 29 year old just averaged 16.2 points and 5 assists with 47.2%/39.9%/88% shooting in 29 minutes for Turkish champions Anadolu Efes. Micic was the Euroleague MVP in 2020-21 as well as the Euroleague Final Four MVP that year and the next. There was some speculation that OKC might trade his rights given his age and their crowded backcourt, but he can provide a veteran presence and versatility. Getting the draft rights to Micic was a sneaky part of the 2020 Al Horford/Danny Green swap with Philadelphia that netted them a 1st round pick.
7/19 update: Smith reports that Micic is getting the full amount of this year's Room MLE for this year and next, and then the last year is a team option for $8.1 million. Based on a 5% raise for that year, the total would be $23,555,150:
Lillard requests trade from the Trail Blazers (Haynes 7/1)
Not exactly a move that I typically track, but I just wanted to note that any team trading for this massive salary would need to send out at least $36.3 million, with a minimum of $41.3 million for a team over the First Apron like the Heat. The last two years are still estimates tied to the projected cap since his last extension was signed not too long ago.
I guess it's a good thing I threw out a hypothetical Miami offer below, and there are of course a lot ways this could be structured, including possibly taking on the $54,375,000 left on Jusuf Nurkic's contract as a cost of doing business. That would require a bigger salary like Tyler Herro's and/or Duncan Robinson's with Lowry's expiring (and draft picks, of course), but I'm not sure Portland will want to take on long-term money. Now about that Grant contract that was an obvious attempt to keep the status quo with an overpay from the moment it happened...
Vezenkov joins the Kings: 3 years, $20 million (Woj 7/1)
7/14 update: Scotto adds that the last year is a team option, and Gozlan confirmed the exact cap hits I projected above. As expected, they have about $1.4 million left of their Room MLE.
Smith joins the Nets: 1 year deal (Shams 7/1)
If it's for the minimum, he'll make $2,528,232.
7/2 update: Scotto confirms that it is indeed the minimum. I thought Smith might be able get more after his quietly good bounce back season, but he should get a good opportunity as the primary backup in Brooklyn.
Hayes joins the Lakers: 2 years, minimum contract (Woj 7/1)
Strus joins the Cavaliers in three-way sign-and-trade: 4 years, $63 million (Woj 7/1)
Cavaliers get:
Heat get:
Future 2nd round pick from Cavs
Spurs get:
Future 2nd round pick from Cavs
The new parameters for matching salaries in trades made this a lot easier for Cleveland to pull off at a number that works for Strus, and it was likely only a matter of re-routing their outgoing players somewhere else so that Miami didn't have to add to their luxury tax bill while getting a pick to facilitate this. San Antonio adds a pick to take two useful players into their abundance of cap space as a result, with Stevens getting at least part of his contract guaranteed for this, and having about $26.1 million in space left is just enough if they want to be the team who gives Reeves a max Arenas offer sheet.
Between the well-deserved paydays for Strus and Vincent, Miami has even more selling points as a destination for undrafted players on two-way contracts. Due to Base Year Compensation, they'll only generate a Trade Exception of half of Strus' salary here.
As expected after the Niang signing, the Cavs are definitely hard-capped at the First Apron now, and this long-awaited addition of another wing likely shift the recently re-signed LeVert back to a sixth man role. They're around $16 million away from that Apron and $9 million away from the the luxury tax, so they could still use the remaining $4 million or so of the MLE and the BAE.
Bane to extend with the Grizzlies: 5 years, "$207 million" (Woj 6/30)
I'm listing $205,900,000 here for now based on a $142 million cap as just discussed below.
Haliburton to extend with the Pacers: 5 years, "up to $260 million" (Woj 6/30)
Miami sheds Oladipo's salary (Shams 6/30)
Thunder receive:
2029 and 2030 2nd round picks
Heat receive:
Cash considerations (really just the Trade Exception and tax relief)
Like the trade below, I'm guessing that there will be no salary coming back as Miami looks for some tax relief and the possibility of using the taxpayer MLE, and they'll create a TE equal to Oladipo's salary. I'm curious at what this big of a salary dump will cost them, particularly since Oklahoma City already owns a future pick of theirs that had its protections adjusted previously.
Just thinking out loud (or on screen here), *if* OKC wanted to change that top-14 protected 2025 1st to unprotected in 2024, Miami could then theoretically offer as much as 2026, 2028, and 2030 1st rounders in a Lillard proposal. This could even potentially become a three-way trade with Oladipo being aggregated with Kyle Lowry's contract that's also expiring in order to match salaries. The Heat would then only need to add a small salary like last year's 1st rounder Nikola Jovic, and the Blazers wouldn't need to take on any long-term salary.
7/6 update: This trade is now official, so RIP to the Lillard trade ideas that roped in this deal to aggregate Oladipo's salary. It ended up being two 2nd round picks that Miami is including in this salary dump, but these teams could still agree to amend the protection on the 2025 1st to allow the Heat to offer three 1st rounders to the Blazers. Making it unprotected in 2026 might be more appealing to OKC than what I wrote above since Miami's stars would be older by then.
Detroit makes surprise move for Morris (Shams, Edwards with the return 6/30)
Pistons receive:
Wizards receive:
Future 2nd round pick
Even with Washington having a guard crunch, this is a pretty underwhelming return that James Edwards III is reporting. They can create a TE equivalent to Morris' salary at least.
Detroit didn't really need another guard themselves, but you can't argue with this price. After this and the Joe Harris trade this morning become official next week, this will take them right up to the cap line (and likely require waiving Eugene Omoruyi's non-guaranteed contract), so they only have the Room MLE to spend with a pretty full roster. 7/1 update: Omoruyi was indeed released.
LA makes subtle move for overseas prospect (Greif 6/30)
Clippers receive:
Draft rights to Balsa Koprivica
Pistons receive:
Cash considerations
The 57th pick in the 2021 draft has played the last couple of seasons for Adriatic Legue powerhouse KK Partizan. Listed at 7'1", Koprivica has gotten limited minutes with some starts here or there after spending two years at Florida State. We'll see what LA's plans are with the 23 year old that Detroit didn't seem to hold in high esteem based on this trade. This is the last day that they can send out cash in a trade since they'll be over the Second Apron, and Omari Sankofa reports that they sent out $2.1 million in this deal to make it a non-trivial transaction. Hollinger speculated that it could be for future trades (perhaps for James Harden) that require sending something out in lieu of protected 2nd rounders or (the soon to be unavailable) cash.
Rose joins the Grizzlies: 2 year deal (Begley 6/30)
Curry joins the Mavericks (yet again): 2 year deal (Woj 6/30)
The younger Curry returns to where he first broke out and reunites with Irving from their Brooklyn days. Tim MacMahon reports that the stud shooter's third go round with the team is for the BAE, which is a really nice value signing. That does hard-cap them at the First Apron, but they still have about $15.9 million of breathing room.
7/15 update: Surprisingly, Scotto and Gozlan report that it's only $8 million with the second year is non-guaranteed, so it will be flat $4 million cap hits for Curry to at least get a little more security up front. Since Dallas didn't end up using the MLE after Thybulle was retained by Portland, they ended up just splitting it between this and the Exum deal and preserving their BAE, maybe until next year. They still could use it, but with a pretty full roster now, they'll probably just use the approximate $5,405,000 left of the MLE.
Brisett joins the Celtics: 2 year deal (Woj 6/30)
Projecting the minimum here based on the player option carrot like with Richardson below.
Schroder joins the Raptors: 2 years, $25.4 million (Woj 6/30)
Well that was a quick response within an hour of losing FVV. Once again Woj rounded up with "$26 million" in his tweet because this is surely the full MLE, which hard-caps Toronto at the First Apron. While a comparable playmaker and defender, Schroder's not being the same caliber of shooter as VanVleet is a huge deal for a Toronto team that really needs it around their forwards. With their only proven shooter remaining, Gary Trent Jr., opting in and reportedly on the verge of a lucrative extension, I wonder if they go full steam ahead with Scottie Barnes as a point forward and keep Schroder in the bench roles he's often better in.
VanVleet joins the Rockets: 3 years, $128.5 million (Woj 6/30)
Woj did Klutch a solid by tweeting "$130 million," but this is his max salary over three years. While going through today's deals, the lack of Houston news was surprising given how they ruled the market with around $66 million in cap space. One wondered if players would/were using them as leverage in negotiations elsewhere, and VanVleet instead used the Raptors’ reported 4/$120M offer to get the Rockets to increase their long-rumored 2/$83.6M deal. It's really impressive for the former undrafted player from little Wichita State who only got a 4/$85M deal in 2020, declined that fourth year player option of $22,824,074, and was rumored to have a 4/$114.2M extension offer during the season.
While some people may have sticker shock, particularly with the third year, the Rockets had so much flexibility with so many rookie contracts on their roster that they had to spend on somebody, and they still have about $25 million in room. New coach Ime Udoka now has his veteran organizer for such a young, mistake prone team, and I think it can work fine with #4 pick Amen Thompson capable of playing on the wing for now. As Bobby Marks and John Hollinger noted on Twitter, Houston going to a third year might actually be helpful for Toronto since now this deal could become a sign-and-trade. Even if it's only for a large Trade Exception, with the Raptors likely sending a 2nd and/or cash to incentivize them, that would be better than losing VanVleet for nothing.
7/1 update: Jackson Gatlin reports that the third year is a team option, which definitely changes the equation here. If so, then the previous reports of their two-year offer would basically be true. Either way, it's still double what he made previously and an even better way for Houston to spend their money. VanVleet not needing to be ball dominant makes a lot more sense for their developing team than their long-rumored interest in a Harden reunion.
Champagnie returns to the Spurs: 4 years, $12 million (Woj 6/30)
This is a really nice deal for Champagnie after surprisingly going undrafted and settling for a two-way last year before getting waived by Philadelphia around the trade deadline. San Antonio must have really liked what they saw after claiming him because he only had a two-way qualifying offer in restricted free agency. Of course, they have the second-most cap space to spend during this rebuild and can afford a bet like this that could become a bargain later.
Reddish joins the Lakers: 2 year deal (Turner 6/30)
When a friend of mine brought up Reddish during a conversation about value free agents this morning, I threw out a comparison to Malik Monk joining the Lakers a couple of years ago, and what do you know. With guys like Monk, Lonnie Walker IV, and Troy Brown, they've done really well recently with these former 1st round picks who need to rehab their value in a place where there can be opportunity.
Hachimura returns to the Lakers: 3 years, $51 million (Shams 6/30)
Based on their other signings, it seems like LA is staying over the cap as expected, but since this starting salary is lower than Hachimura's cap hold, I think they could potentially fit those deals in with cap space before using the Room MLE. That would require renouncing all other free agents not named Austin Reaves, though, and they'll probably just re-sign D'Angelo Russell instead of an external addition at that price.
Love returns to the Heat: 2 years, $7.7 million (Reynolds 6/30)
They only have Non-Bird Rights, but by using the BAE to sign him after he was bought out midseason, a potential 120% raise on his $3,114,138 salary is notable.
Update: Ira Winderman confirms that it is a $3.7 million starting salary, which means they are using Non-Bird Rights, and Love is getting a player option for a second season.
Richards joins the Heat (again): 2 year deal (Shams 6/30)
For now, I'm projecting Richardson taking the minimum to return to the team that drafted him in the 2nd round back in 2015. They're currently too close to the Second Apron to use the taxpayer MLE, and the player option likely indicates he's taking a team friendly deal in order to hit the market again next year.
Jones returns to the Pelicans: 4 years, $54 million (Woj 6/30)
Milton joins the Timberwolves: 2 years, $10 million (Woj 6/30)
Watanabe joins the Suns: 2 years, minimum contract (Shams 6/30)
A reunion with Kevin Durant has been talked about for a while after Watanabe's breakout season with the Nets, and John Gambadoro in particular was all over this with Bates-Diop also on his radar. We'll see if it's one or two years at the minimum, but either way, Phoenix has really done well with their limited options to add underrated role players who can contribute on both ends. All of them are relatively young, too, with Okogie, KDP, Metu, Eubanks, and Watanabe all coming into the league during the 2018-19 season while Lee arrived in the prior campaign.
7/3 update: Anthony Slater confirms that Watanabe did get a 1+1 like most of their other signings.
Vincent joins the Lakers: 3 years, $33 million (Shams 6/30)
My fellow Gaucho definitely raised the average salary of UCSB alumni with this deal to return to Southern California. This likely will come out of the full MLE.
Jones returns to the Spurs: 2 years, $20 million (Woj 6/30)
Like I mentioned with Lyles below, San Antonio could sign this deal last in order to use up their huge amount of cap room with only Jones' small cap hold on the books until then.
Johnson returns to the Nets: 4 years, $108 million (Woj 6/30)
Michael Scotto reports that $108 million is the maximum amount with incentives, so we'll see what the real number ends up being. The Joe Harris trade this morning definitely made it easier for them to make this expenditure and not be up against the tax line or First Apron.
7/6 update: With contracts starting to be officially signed today, Marks has a breakdown of Johnson's $90 million that's fully guaranteed with about $4.4 million in likely incentives and $13.5 million in unlikely incentives.
Poeltl returns to the Raptos: 4 years, $80 million (Woj 6/30)
After giving up a 2024 1st round pick at the deadline for Poeltl, it's no surprise Toronto is paying market value for him.
Middleton returns to the Bucks: 3 years, $102 million (Woj 6/30)
7/6 update: With contracts starting to be officially signed today, Marks has a breakdown of Middleton's $93 million that's fully guaranteed with $2 million in likely incentives and about $7 million in unlikely incentives. That would look more like this:
Ingles joins the Magic: 2 years: $22 million (Haynes, Woj with the details 6/30)
Irving returns to the Mavericks: 3 years, $126 million (Shams 6/30)
Niang joins the Cavaliers: 3 years, $26 million (Woj 6/30)
This likely will be using part of the full MLE, which hard-caps them at the First Apron. Marc Stein was all over this pairing, and now we'll see if they can also pull off a sign-and-trade for Max Strus for more than the MLE.
Metu joins the Suns: 1 year deal (Woj 6/30)
I'm surprised this doesn't contain a player option based on Phoenix's other deals. They're really handling all family business within the first hour with great signings since they can offer a ton of minutes on a contender with the chance to hit the market again next year, particularly for those who are getting POs. Metu can compete with Eubanks for backup minutes and will earn the same $2,346,614 since they came into the league the year, but he counts as a cheaper salary due to only being signed for one year.
Carter joins the Bulls: 3 years, $19 million (Woj 6/30)
He won't have to travel very far from Milwaukee, where he wisely declined a $2,239,943 player option. This looks to be using some of the full MLE, which will hard-cap Chicago at the First Apron. Woj had the initial tweet at $20 million, but I'm using Haynes' $19 million since that's likely based on incentives.
7/10 update: Funnily enough, Scotto reports that the official contract that's now signed is for $19.5 million and contains a player option.
Jackson returns to the Nuggets: 2 years, $10.25 million (Shams 6/30)
Brown joins the Timberwolves: 2 years, $8 million (Woj, Krawczynski with details 6/30)
This could come through the BAE or as part of the MLE, and they could be hard-capped at the First Apron as a result. Either way, it's a nice raise for the former 1st rounder who had to settle for the minimum last year.
7/11 update: Scotto and Gozlan report that it will be a flat $4 million each year with the second season actually non-guaranteed, not a team option. That distinction is notable but usually more important for higher salaries in order to be used in trades or declined before re-signing for a different number.
Porzingis expected to extend with the Celtics: 2 years, $60 million (Haynes 6/30)
This was likely agreed to as part of picking up his player option for the trade, so it's like he signed a 3 year, $96 million free agent deal.
Grant returns to the Trail Blazers: 5 years, $160 million (Shams 6/30)
Holy cow, it's safe to say that he made the right choice in not taking the 4 year, $112,654,080 extension that was the most Portland could offer him during the season. He can obviously thank Damian Lillard for pressuring them into feeling like they needed to make an overpay.
7/9 update: Scotto reports that the fifth year is a player option, and it's fair to say that it will likely be picked up given that Grant will be 33 by then. However, I have been wondering if it might be structured with declining value now that Lillard requested a trade and Portland likely won't be spending much this year to be in danger of the luxury tax. That would at least make it more tradable down the line, in theory.
7/11 update: Never mind, Gozlan confirms that it's exactly as I initially projected above.
Alexander-Walker returns to the Timberwolves: 2 years, $9 million (Krawczynski 6/30)
They didn't extend the $7,073,602 qualifying offer to him and got a deal at a fair amount less in the end. I should've talked him up more as an underrated piece of the D'Angelo Russell trade because I've always been a fan of his jack of all trades game, and he found a niche upon arriving in Minnesota.
Brown joins the Pacers: 2 years, $45 million (Woj/Andrews 6/30)
Quite the jump up after settling for a 1+1 last year with a maximum value of $13,281,950 if he hadn't opted out. As everyone knows, the highest starting salary that Denver could offer him was $7,774,800 before potentially making him whole after another opt out next year, like Milwaukee and Bobby Portis did after their championship. Instead, Brown cashes in now with a first year salary worth nearly double what the multitude of teams rumored to be pursuing him with the MLE could offer. Zach Lowe reporting that the second year is a team option makes for an interesting wrinkle. In that case, I'm surprised Brown didn't opt for a longer deal with less annual salary but more guaranteed, but Indiana could always decline the option in order to re-sign him on that kind of deal.
Lee returns to the Suns: 2 year deal (Woj 6/30)
Like with Okogie, Non-Bird Rights limits how big of a raise they can offer him. For now, I'll project that he gets the 120% raise since money seems to be no object with Phoenix handing out these two-year minimums that count don't get subsidized like a one-year pact does.
Bates-Diop joins the Suns: 2 years at the minimum (Woj 6/30)
Jordan returns to the Nuggets, TBD on details (Haynes 6/30)
Again, Haynes...but I'm just going to project him for the minimum like last year, which will earn him $3,196,448.
Okogie returns to the Suns: TBD on details (Haynes 6/30)
Phoenix only has his Non-Bird Rights, which limits them to offering only 120% of the minimum ($2,815,937 for Okogie), so I wonder if this is a 1+1 deal like with Eubanks, with Early Bird Rights coming next year in this case. Chris Haynes is killing me with these lack of figures.
7/12 update: It was pretty surprising that no further details came out over the last two weeks, but Marks finally tweeted confirmation that Okogie got the full 120% and player option that was the most that Phoenix could offer him, as I suspected above. So it's 2 years and nearly $5.8 million guaranteed for the defensive specialist as their disregard for a little higher luxury tax hits with the second year of the minimum continues to pay off as I talked about in the Gordon section on 7/2.
Kuzma returns to the Wizards: 4 years, $102 million (Woj 6/30)
I'd like to think that Kuzma wanted just slightly more than Draymond to be petty. Potential big spenders using up their cap space with moves in the past week likely helped Washington's chances of keeping him, even with their rebuild.
7/9 update: Marks noted on Twitter that only $90 million is guaranteed with $12 million tied to bonuses, so this is not a bad deal for the Wizards after Kuzma's market seemed to shrink. It should at least be pretty tradable down the line.
7/11 update: Smith reports that this is also a front-loaded contract, so it definitely will be tradable later. My updated projection based on that information aligns with the details in his tweet.
Prince joins the Lakers: 1 year, $4.5 million (Shams 6/30)
Projecting that they're using the BAE here, which would hard-cap them at the First Apron. Minnesota probably feels a little justified after them waiving Prince's non-guaranteed $7,455,000 was met with some surprise in the media.
White returns to the Bulls: 3 years, $33 million (Shams 6/30)
Woj's report is for $40 million, and that's likely including incentives to win the PR battle for his agents at CAA.
7/10 update: With the contract now official, Smith reports that White will get $36 million guaranteed with incentives possibly taking it up to $39.9 million.
Eubanks joins the Suns: 2 year deal (Shams 6/30)
I'm projecting the minimum here because that's literally all Phoenix can sign external free agents to. This would explain them surprisingly pulling the qualifying offer on Jock Landale at the last minute, and it could be an upgrade after the quietly good season Eubanks just had in Portland.
LeVert returns to the Cavaliers: 2 years, $32 million (Woj 6/30)
This is a solid value after LeVert made $18,796,296 last year, and they still have plenty of breathing room under the tax line to use the full MLE.
Lyles returns to the Kings, 2 years, $16 million (Haynes first, Amick with the details 6/30)
As I've written this past week, the move here is to use up their cap space with Lyles' small cap hold and then exceed the cap with his Early Bird Rights last.
Green returns to the Warriors: 4 year, $100 million (Shams 6/30)
I suggested this exact total a couple of months ago as a way for Green to get paid while spreading out the cap hit in order to lower this year's luxury tax bill. The partial guarantee idea was definitely wrong, but the fourth year being a player option is along the same track since Stephen Curry's deal only has three years left. Most importantly, having a lower starting salary than what his $27,586,224 player option would've been will save them over $40 million due to the repeater penalties being so insane.
Spreading out $92M over 4 years could start at $20.5M like the 3/$66M I suggested would, perhaps with only $8.5M guaranteed in the last year to lock in 3/$75M.
— Dave Giovanazzi (@SF_DavidGio) May 19, 2023
Coming off of a 4/$99.7M deal, maybe 4/$100M is more realistic w/$81M guaranteed.
Either would cut ~$35-47M off the tax
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