The buzz around this year's NBA offseason is that the action could happen earlier than usual, so I'm just going to start my annual tracker now. This way I can list any players under contract that get traded during the draft here instead of having those in my separate post about every team's picks.
The Rockets got things started already with the first extension reached right in the middle of the Finals, so I may as well get started now! As usual, players already under contract have their figures listed based on Keith Smith's work at Spotrac.com while salaries in bold italics are my own estimates based on reported numbers and the standard 5% or 8% raises that teams could give. Salaries are also color coded if they are a player option, a team option, not fully guaranteed, or mutual option. Since this post will be constantly updated throughout the summer, I'll be adding the latest news at the top to be readily available upon revisiting this page. Or if you want to go in chronological order, start at the bottom.
6/30 Update: The NBA officially announced that this year's salary cap is set at $154,647,000 with the tax line at $187,895,000, which is right at the expected 10% growth from last year. That means the the full Mid-Level Exception can have a starting salary of $14,104,000 and can top out at 4 years, $60,647,200; the Taxpayer MLE can start at $5,685,000 and go to 2 years, $11,654,250; the Room MLE can start at $8,781,000 and go to 3 years, $27,660,150; and the Bi-Annual Exception can start at $5,134,000 and go to 2 years, $10,524,700. Notably, Marks reports that the salary cap is only projected to go up by 7% raises instead of the maximum of 10% like this year, which could throw a wrench into team's budgets.
McLaughlin to re-sign with the Spurs: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/9)
| Jordan McLaughlin | $2,296,274 |
As a veteran with six years of experience, McLaughlin will make $2,874,436 with the subsidized cap hit above on the one year deal. He didn't play a ton after arriving in San Antonio with De'Aaron Fox, but he's a solid third-string point guard to be a caretaker when called upon (career 4.29 to 1 assist to turnover ratio) and have in the locker room.
Booker extends with the Suns: 2 years, "$145 million" (Shams 7/9)
| Devin Booker | $53,142,264 | $57,078,728 | $61,015,192 | $70,077,515 | $75,683,716 |
I'm putting the $145 million in quotes since there is a lot of projection here since the extension won't kick in until all the way in 2028. The numbers above are based on the salary cap rising by the maximum of 10% in 2027 and 2028 even though the estimate for next summer is only for 7%. If that continues at 7% for the following two years, then this would be worth "only" about $138 million with cap hits of $66.3 and $71.6 million.
Holmgren extends with the Thunder: 5 years, $239 million (Shams 7/9)
| Chet Holmgren | $13,731,368 | $41,368,073 | $44,677,518 | $47,986,964 | $51,296,410 | $54,605,856 |
After initially Tweeting that it "could reach $250 million," Shams' actual article stated it as $239 million guaranteed with escalators. That is pretty notable because the figures above are Holmgren's 25% max, and "only" having the potential to reach $250 million means that OKC actually fought in negotiations so that even if he makes All-NBA or wins Defensive Player of the Year, it won't bump up to the full 30% number like Banchero below, $289 million.
The two of them were picked at the top of the 2022 draft, and the #2 pick here has unfortunately been limited just 114 games through three years, which likely contributed to these negotiations. Holmgren provides valuable two-way ability with his shot-blocking, shooting, and ball-handling at either big position when he is on the floor, so this compromise sounds like a fair deal. The #3 pick that year, Jabari Smith, hasn't hit the same heights as them, but these deals really show how much of a bargain the extension that he signed could be. Another Thunder player, Jalen Williams, will be the next max contract to look out for from that class after he was picked #12 in what was considered a surprisingly high pick at the time but has proven to be a steal.
San Antonio picks up another big man (Shams 7/8)
Spurs receive:
Wizards receive:
2026 2nd round pick (Worst of 76ers, Mavericks, or Thunder)
With Kornet already added for defense off the bench, San Antonio now adds a more perimeter big in Olynyk, and they could end up as a second unit pairing. This is the third time that the 34 year old has been traded in the last five months, but he's the headliner instead of just matching salary this time. Olynyk's combination of shooting, passing, and size could make him a nice connective piece to a variety of lineups, especially with Wembanyama's versatility.
I used to have hope for both Branham and Wesley from the 2022 draft, but neither guard could consistently find their stride thus far. That made them expendable for the Spurs as they begin to move into the next phase of their rebuild, especially with their recent big investments at the position.
After Washington gave up a couple of their horde of 2nd rounders in the Whitmore trade, they get one back here as they continue to add former 1st rounders still on rookie contracts. It's definitely worth taking a look on these two in exchange for an older player that wasn't in their plans, and who knows, maybe they see something in camp with these two to negotiate a surprise extension. They have a very full roster, though, so other moves would be needed for both to stick around.
Conversely, San Antonio now has three open roster spots, but both teams still have plenty of room below the luxury tax. That will be especially true for Washington if they cut Richaun Holmes' $13,280,737 salary that's only guaranteed for $250,000. It could potentially be useful for trades, but they have plenty of expiring contracts and could be creating a new Trade Exception worth Olynyk's salary that's right above Holmes'. Branham and Wesley fit just about perfectly into their $9.9 million Valanciunas TE that expires in February, so using that here would create a new, larger TE that lasts longer.
Banchero extends with the Magic: 5 years, up to $287 million (Shams 7/7)
| Paolo Banchero | $15,334,769 | $41,368,073 | $44,677,518 | $47,986,964 | $51,296,410 | $54,605,856 |
I'm going with $239.9 million as the projection here since Banchero needs to make All-NBA next year to bump up from a 25% max to a 30% max. If the former #1 pick and Rookie of the Year does meet the criteria, his cap figures would instead be $49,641,687/$53,613,022/$57,584,357/$61,555,692/$65,527,027. It's the same situation that Franz Wagner faced with them last year, but the fact that Banchero got the last year as a player option is notable. As Shams noted in his Tweet, it's the first such case since 2021 as getting the full five years and the possibility of the 30% max is usually a concession in exchange for not being able to reach free agency after just four years.
Lowry to re-sign with the 76ers: 1 year deal (Shams 7/7)
Philadelphia has Lowry's Non-Bird Rights to give him up to 120% of his minimum, but I'm projecting it is a straight minimum contract again for the 39 year old. As a veteran with 10+ years of experience, he would still earn $3.6 million with this subsidized cap hit, and that difference could matter if the price for Grimes gets high enough in restricted free agency to push them to the Second Apron that they're less than $20 million away from now.
Wiseman to sign (back) with the Pacers: 2 years, minimum contract (Tony East 7/7)
| James Wiseman | $2,667,948 | $3,018,158 |
Wiseman unfortunately tore his Achilles in his first game with Indiana after signing with them last summer and then had to be salary dumped to Toronto at the trade deadline to ensure that they avoided the luxury tax. Hopefully he'll be healthy this time around to find his role in the league as they try to replace Turner in the aggregate with a variety of cheaper big men.
LA, Miami, and Utah combine for surprise trade (Shams 7/7)
Heat receive:
Clippers receive:
Jazz receive:
| Kyle Anderson | $9,219,512 | $9,658,536 |
2027 Clippers 2nd round pick
Powell is coming off of a career season in which he garnered some All-Star consideration, so Miami basically turning the expiring contracts of Anderson and Love into him is quite the coup. You'd think that they'd be the ones sending out a draft pick, but instead they're just taking on additional salary. That does put them a bit into the luxury tax, but it's close enough that they could get out of it with another move either now or by the trade deadline. They can't really go too much the other way with adding more salary now because this hard-caps them at the First Apron, and this move likely rules them out of the Bradley Beal market once he reaches his Phoenix buyout.
The culmination of this deal is funny because Collins had been linked to Miami this summer but is landing in LA, and both Anderson and Love are former UCLA players who are winding up in Utah instead of LA. This also puts the Clippers into the tax with at least one more roster spot to fill, and they are around $6.7 million away from their First Apron hard cap, which is enough to use the $5.3 million remainder of their MLE. It didn't seem like they wanted to extend Powell at age 32 after his big season tailed off in the second half due to injury, especially since other deals have provided a lot of flexibility to have a lot of cap space next summer depending on how they handle team options and partial guarantees.
The shift from Powell to Collins provides a different look with Kawhi Leonard shifting back to small forward instead of playing up a position. Collins regained his shooting stroke in Utah to convert on 38.2% of his threes while attempting a solid 3.5 per game, so this change shouldn't hurt the spacing too badly. They lose the dynamic element of having another wing like Powell between Leonard and Harden but gain more size and rebounding.
Although Collins is coming off a productive year, this isn't a bad outcome for the Jazz due to his high salary that made trade fits a challenge. Getting a 2nd rounder that comes after the Clippers might be making big changes next summer could be useful, and they didn't have a 2nd in that year before this. Perhaps they can flip these veterans, particularly Anderson, by the trade deadline for more, but if not, they're both solid locker room presences for their young roster.
As it stands now, Utah could get to around $8.4 million in cap space, and that can rise to about $18.8 million if they waive the non-guaranteed contracts of KJ Martin and Jaden Springer. Maybe they'll be the team that offers a lifeline to the restricted free agent market since Quentin Grimes was reportedly a sticking point with the Knicks in Donovan Mitchell trade talks back in the day. Or as Gozlan noted, they could stay over the cap by using the MLE to absorb salary and instead create a large Trade Exception worth Collins' $26,580,000 salary.
Rollins to re-sign with the Bucks: 3 years, $12 million (Shams 7/6)
| Ryan Rollins | $3,703,704 | $4,000,000 | $4,296,296 |
Because Rollins joined Milwaukee in the back-half of the '23-24 season, even on a Two-Way, they had Early Bird Rights to give him a deal like this. That means that his $2.3 million cap hold will need to stay on the books when they renounce the rest of their free agents to have the cap space for the Myles Turner signing, and then they can go over the cap to replace that cap hold with this figure.
The former Warriors 2nd round pick didn't play a ton of minutes when filling in for Lillard as a starter but was productive on both ends of the floor in the time that he received. The player option at the end is a little rich for a player this unproven, but otherwise it's a nice deal for Rollins after he had per 36 averages of 15.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 2.3 turnovers with 48.7%/40.8%/80.9% shooting.
7-team trade wrapping up draft day deals makes NBA history (7/6)
Rockets receive:
| Clint Capela | $6,825,397 | $7,166,667 | $7,507,937 |
Suns receive:
| Jalen Green | $33,333,333 | $36,000,000 | $36,000,000 |
| Dillon Brooks | $21,124,110 | $19,992,727
|
#10 pick Khaman Maluach
#31 pick Rasheer Fleming
#41 pick Koby Brea
2026 2nd round pick (2nd-best of Mavericks, Thunder, or 76ers)
Lakers receive:
#36 pick Adou Thiero
Timberwolves receive:
#45 pick Rocco Zikarsky
2026 2nd round pick (lesser of Nuggets and Warriors, via Suns)
2032 2nd round pick (better of Rockets and Suns)
Cash considerations (via Lakers)
Nets receive:
2026 2nd round pick (lesser of Clippers and [best of Celtics/Heat/Pacers], via Rockets)
2030 Celtics 2nd round pick (via Rockets)
Warriors receive:
#52 pick Alex Toohey
#59 pick Jahmai Mashack (sent out in separate trade)
Hawks receive:
Right to swap 2031 2nd round picks with Rockets
Cash Considerations
Now that the moratorium is over and teams are announcing full details of trades, I figured I'd summarize the first seven-team deal in NBA history since some of the details were in my draft summary and others were spread out in their own individual updates. Aside from not knowing the destinations of the Two-Way contract guys, I was able to put together the details of this behemoth
last week when it first had NBA Twitter abuzz. The inclusion of Plowden in particular was just so that Atlanta could "touch" another team as Phoenix immediately waived him.
Landale to sign with the Grizzlies: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/5)
It's safe to assume that having a Landale addition in the works contributed to the Huff trade from *six* minutes prior. Memphis doesn't have any other exceptions available to sign someone, so this will be a minimum that can come after they complete their other sequence of deals that use up cap space. Landale wasn't going to get anywhere close to his non-guaranteed $8 million salary that was signed to make him a walking Trade Exception, but he will cash in almost $2.5 million as a four-year veteran.
Indiana picks up a big man (Shams first, Scotto the details 7/5)
Pacers receive:
| Jay Huff | $2,349,578 | $2,667,944 | $3,005,085 |
Grizzlies receive:
2029 Trail Blazers 2nd round pick
Right to swap 2031 2nd round picks with the Pacers
After putting up good numbers in the G League and in small NBA sample sizes, Huff was converted from his Two-Way contract to this cost controlled deal early in the season. He wasn't able to maintain his role in Memphis as their core bigs got established, but he's certainly worth taking a flier on with career per 36 averages of 20.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.5 blocks with 52%/40.4%/82.4% shooting while attempting 8.8 threes.
This move won't replace the loss of Turner, but it could provide somewhat of a facsimile in a smaller role. Indiana already owes a 2031 swap to Miami from the trade for another backup center, Thomas Bryant, so giving up secondary rights here isn't much to add to the extra pick from Portland. Coincidentally enough, they will likely be using a Trade Exception from salary dumping a different center, James Wiseman, to take in Huff's contract.
Shedding this salary isn't enough yet for Memphis to clear enough space for Jackson's renegotiation, but it does get them closer. I think they would need Anthony to give up around $4 million in a buyout to ensure the $240 million total number, so it could come down to whether he has a guarantee elsewhere of a team's BAE or Taxpayer MLE. As a five year veteran, his minimum is only about $2.7 million.
Washington picks up Whitmore (Shams first, Robbins the pick details 7/5)
Wizards receive:
| Cam Whitmore | $3,539,760 | $5,458,310 |
Rockets receive:
2026 Bulls 2nd round pick
2029 Kings 2nd round pick
Washington has a ton of 2nd round picks, so from Houston's perspective, at least the two involved here come from teams with shaky management. Still, this is a pretty sweet pickup for the rebuilding team with Whitmore showing a ton of scoring potential while being stuck on a deep squad trying to contend. He hasn't been shy when he got his chances with per 36 averages of 22.3 points, 7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 2 turnovers with 44.9%/35.7%/70.7% through two seasons, and he only turns 21 this week. At 6'5.75", 235 lbs with a 6'8.5" wingspan, Whitmore is a more physical, scoring focused forward than what the Wizards have, and he could fit well with their group of lottery picks: Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly, and Alex Sarr. Add in AJ Johnson, Kyshawn George, Will Riley, and Dillon Jones, and they almost have two full lineups of players on rookie scale contracts. I'm guessing that they will use the $5.3 million Johnny Davis Trade Exception to absorb this salary, and they still have plenty of flexibility under the luxury tax.
The Rockets will get a small Trade Exception worth Whitmore's salary out of this, and they were lacking in 2nd rounders after the KD trade. They likely won't have their 1st round pick that's only top-4 protected this year (from the Russell Westbrook trade), so that Bulls pick is a solid get since it could be in the late 30's or early 40's if they're a Play-In team yet again. Washington actually owns Houston's 2029 2nd rounder that they could've returned, but I think the Sacramento pick here will be more valuable based on their cores.
As an aside, I wonder if Durant takes Whitmore's #7 now like with the Nets and (later career) Team USA or sticks with his traditional #35. Since #7 is retired for the Suns, it wasn't available when he went from Brooklyn to Phoenix like it is now with Houston.
7/6 Update: Now that teams are officially announcing trades as official, I learned from the press releases that this ended up a part of Washington's trade with New Orleans with Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, CJ McCollum, and Kelly Olynyk. The Wizards were sending out just enough salary in that one to fold in Whitmore and not have to touch any of their exceptions, and in order for the other two teams to "touch," the Rockets got the draft rights to Mojave King. The Pelicans just received those rights last month in their trade with the Pacers, and what I wrote below proved true sooner than expected: "I'm guessing the Pels just wanted something else to throw into future trades when they're required to send anything out like a fake 2nd or cash."
Wagner to re-sign with the Magic: 1 year, $5 million (Shams 7/4)
Coming off of a torn ACL, this is a fair deal to keep the older Wagner brother in the fold. If he comes back to play at the level he was at before the injury, Orlando will still have his Bird Rights to give him a more suitable salary. Barring another move to shed salary, it looks like they’ll be a taxpaying team this season for the first time since the Dwight Howard era.
Hayes to re-sign with the Lakers: 1 year, minimum contract (Shams 7/3)
I'm projecting the minimum here given how close they are to the First Apron and the fact that the agent didn't leak any details. As a six year veteran, Hayes will earn about $2.9 million with this cap hit subsidized by the league.
I've never been a big fan, but he's fine as a backup on the minimum instead of being pressed way out of his depth as a starter due to LA's roster at the end of last year. For someone with his length and athleticism for stuffing Luka lobs, you'd think that he'd have a career defensive rebounding rate of 17.3%. I learned from Shams' Tweet that Hayes is also represented by Duffy like Doncic and Ayton, so you can't dismiss that aspect of keeping the new franchise star happy.
7/6 Update: With deals becoming official today, Marks reports that Hayes surprisingly got 120% of his minimum through Non-Bird Rights. They had Early Bird Rights for him, but I'm guessing LA went this route because using that exception for a higher raise requires a commitment of at least two years. Now they would need to waive one of their players who don't have fully guaranteed contracts, Shake Milton or Jordan Goodwin, if they wanted to use the BAE.
Ayton to sign with the Lakers: 2 years, $16.6 million (Stein/Fischer 7/2)
| Deandre Ayton | $8,100,000 | $8,505,000 |
I'm estimating $8.4 number here based on what LA had left of the MLE after signing LaRavia and Shams saying that Ayton will make $34 million combined this season. Fischer said the other day that Ayton gave up $10 million of his original $35,550,814 salary, so depending on the exact amount LaRavia got, so the math would pretty much checks out.
It was easy to connect the dots to LA once the surprise buyout happened given the widely known need at center for the Lakers and the lack of starting caliber options truly available for what they could offer. It also doesn't hurt that Ayton has the same power agent as Luka Doncic, Bill Duffy, and now it's so funny that the former #1 overall pick will now be teammates with the player who should've been picked ahead of him.
Since Doncic typically pairs with true lob threats, it's not necessarily a perfect fit given that Ayton prefers to settle for two-point jumpers and infamously goes to the free throw line at a low rate despite making 75.5% for his career. He does inhale boards with a 26.9% percent career defensive rebounding rate, though, so that could go a long way towards addressing the Lakers' issues from these past playoffs. LA is now hard-capped at the First Apron but still has enough flexibility under it to use the BAE for another addition.
Update: Fischer followed up that it will be a two-year deal with an $8.1 million starting salary, and Scotto added that the second year is a player option, as you'd expect. With a standard 5% raise, that gets to $16.6 million. After Indiana shockingly lost Turner yesterday, there was some thought that they could get involved with the full $14.1 million of the MLE available since they were the ones who gave Ayton the max contract offer sheet back in 2022, but I feel like this was already a done deal.
