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.
Jovic extends with the Heat: 4 years, $62.4 million (Shams 10/1)
| Nikola Jovic | $4,445,417 | $13,928,571 | $15,042,857 | $16,157,143 | $17,271,429 |
I thought that the last key free agent signing his deal earlier today would mean the end of updating this tracker, but I guess there are still some rookie extensions to work out like this. Jovic hasn't been able to put it together over consistent periods of time for various reasons, but he can be valuable front court option with his versatility. The outside shooting seems legit with a 37.1% mark while increasing the attempts to 4.1 per game after making 39.9% on 3.5 before, so locking in this deal at around MLE money makes sense.
Grimes accepts the Qualifying Offer with the 76ers: 1 year, $8,7 million (Shams 10/1)
There never seemed to be any momentum in these negotiations given the aforementioned restricted free agent market, so Grimes settling for this before the deadline to accept tonight was the expected outcome.
Known more as a 3+D wing, he was a revelation with more freedom upon being traded to Philadelphia, where he averaged 21.9 points with 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals on 46.9%/37.3%/75.2% shooting in 33.7 minutes. Those numbers went up even higher in his final 18 games after Tyrese Maxey was lost for the season: 24.8, 5.0, 5.2, and 1.8 in 34.6 minutes with 45.6%/37.1%/78.5% shooting. The team only went 3-15, however, so it'll be interesting to see how Grimes fits in next to their stars...assuming they're ever healthy at the same time.
Kuminga re-signs with the Warriors: 2 years, "$48.5 million" (Shams 9/30)
| Jonathan Kuminga | $23,317,308 | $25,182,692 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | $22,500,000 | $24,300,000 |
Finally, our long national nightmare is over. There was a lot of agent spin in Shams' reporting, but it would appear that the Warriors pretty much called the bluff of agent Aaron Turner when he went on a podcast tour this month since this basically the offer that's been on the table all summer with the team option on the second season.
Holding out this long only got Golden State to bump it up from a reported $45 million to this $48.5 number, which is about $1.7 million more guaranteed depending on the structure with the option. It never made sense for Kuminga to play on just a $7.9 million Qualifying Offer instead of this pay bump for the same time period just to get an implicit no trade clause, especially if his goal is to get to another team to spread his wings anyway. It could be debated whether this was the better path than the reported 2+1 deal for $75.2 million since that would have around $48.3 million guaranteed, but this allows him to potentially reach unrestricted free agency sooner.
Now the Warriors have a much higher salary slot for trade purposes once he becomes eligible to be moved on January 15th (instead of the typical December due to a pay raise this large). In the mean time they'll have a long runway to see how a forward of his ability fits in next to Butler and Draymond Green in the front court, with Kuminga healthy from the start this time compared to when Butler arrived. Assuming that Horford's deal will now be finalized for the entirety of Taxpayer MLE ($5,685,000 and $5,969,250) as mentioned below, whether or not Melton signs a multiyear deal (as Siegel reported as a possibility) that comes with a higher cap hit will determine how long Golden State will have to wait before they can sign a 15th player to the roster at the prorated minimum.
Update: Shams now reports that Seth Curry is in fact signing with the Warriors now, even after his ESPN article mentioned how the team would need to wait until mid November to fill out the roster to make the math work. Maybe it's a non-guaranteed training camp deal just to have him practice for now before waiving and re-signing, or maybe Kuminga's number is actually lower than what was reported to make the agent look good (again).
2nd Update: Stein confirmed my theory that Seth is only getting a non-guaranteed camp deal to get him acclimated before being cut and re-signed. Marks also provided clarification that Kuminga's starting salary is only $22.5 million, which is the number mentioned in the actual ESPN article about the contract and in one of Siegel's tweets, and the reported "$48.5 million" is based on the Trade Kicker included. So it's really a $46.8 million pact, which means that no matter how much Shams spins it, this long holdout added around $900K more guaranteed than the much discussed $45 million offer...This lower starting salary helps provide some more breathing room under the Second Apron to give Melton the reported two years at the minimum since the prorated cap hits only apply to one year deals. His cap hit will instead count for his full salary as a seven year vet, with Siegel reporting that the second year is a player option:
| De'Anthony Melton | $3,080,921 | $3,451,780 |
Horford signs with the Warriors: "multiyear deal" (Shams 9/28)
Shams going with the all caps "BREAKING" on this was unintentionally funny considering everyone has known that this deal, along with the ones with veteran guards De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II coming back to Golden State (per Siegel and Shams), was basically agreed to since July. While the latter two are likely for the veteran minimum, Horford notably still lacks financial details due to the Kuminga situation still being resolved.
That's what has held up the Warriors from making any moves since they didn't want to make anything official until they knew whether they had to operate with a hard cap at one of the Aprons or not. I've been guessing that Horford is getting the Taxpayer MLE on a 1+1 deal for $11.65 million, which would trigger the Second Apron, but if Kuminga ends up taking the qualifying offer, Golden State could offer some or all of the full MLE while staying under a subsequent First Apron hard cap. I do wonder if 2nd round pick Will Richard also getting a standard deal today as opposed to a Two-Way could be a sign that they needed to sign a cheaper rookie contract like his instead of the veteran minimum in order to fit a Kuminga deal under an Apron. If these four players get the amounts that I expect, then the estranged restricted free agent could get a starting salary up to around $25 million on whatever contract structure that both sides end up agreeing to before Wednesday's QO deadline if they leave the 15th roster spot open. If cool heads prevail and they do reach a deal, keeping it to about $23 million for this season is what is needed to still sign another veteran such as rumored target Seth Curry.
9/30 Update: Scotto reports what's been expected: it's "$12 million" over two years with the second year a player option (as seemingly every Taxpayer MLE deal ends up being).
| Al Horford | $5,685,000 | $5,969,250 |
The big man may have just turned 39 this summer, but he's still very effective on both ends in limited minutes. And one skill that should age well is Horford's outside shooting that is key to have next to a non-shooter like Green. Upon his return to Boston four years ago, Horford has managed to increase his 3-point percentage to 39.2% even while also pumping up the volume to 4.5 attempts in only 28.5 minutes.
Also as an aside, everyone remembers the famous "Tobias Harris over ME?!" line, but the 76ers signing Horford in that big summer of 2019 also played a big role in Butler's departure from Philly. Now they'll be playing together in Golden State instead.
Brogdon signs with the Knicks: 1 year deal (Shams 9/11)
| Malcolm Brogdon | $2,296,274 |
This will also be for the minimum like Shamet, and I believe that New York will actually need to make another move in order to even fit that under the Second Apron since they could only sign one of their 2nd rounders to the minimum as things were. As a nine-year veteran, Brogdon is set to earn $3.3 million, and although health is always the question mark with him, this is an absolute bargain for the former Sixth Man of the Year if he is able to play. Funnily enough, he won that award over Immanuel Quickly...who was on the Knicks at the time.
Now that we're fully in minimum contract-only signings, this tracker is just about done. I'll update it whenever we finally get resolution with the big restricted free agents, Kuminga and Grimes, but that'll likely be it.
Shamet re-signs with the Knicks: 1 year deal (Shams 9/11)
This is almost assuredly a minimum contract given New York's proximity to the Second Apron, and at that price, you could do a lot worse than a veteran shooter like Shamet. He even got some minutes off the bench in the playoffs last year, which is saying something considering how much they rode their starters. As a veteran with seven years of experience, he'll make $3.08 million with the subsidized cap hit above on the one year minimum.
Giddey re-signs with the Bulls: 4 years, $100 million (Shams 9/9)
| Josh Giddey | $22,321,429 | $24,107,143 | $25,892,857 | $27,678,571 |
Finally, a restricted free agent gets an actual deal done. Based on previous reporting, this $25 million average looks to be right in the middle of what Giddey was hoping for and what Chicago was offering, so it's nice to see cooler heads prevail and reach an agreement that makes sense.
Thomas accepts the Qualifying Offer with the Nets: 1 year, $6 million (Shams 9/4)
With the restricted free agent market so frigid this summer, Thomas will just bide his time for this season before becoming unrestricted next year.
Washington extends with the Mavericks: 4 years, "$90 million" (Shams 9/3)
| P.J. Washington | $14,152,174 | $19,813,044 | $21,398,087 | $22,983,131 | $24,568,174 |
A new deal between these sides had been rumored for a little while, but going the full $88,762,435 that I believe is the most that Washington could extend for is a bit much. Dallas is almost comically invested in the front court now between trading Doncic for Davis, miraculously winning the Flagg lottery, extending Gafford, and now this extension, while also still having Lively as a core piece.
Smith to sign with the Heat: 3 years, $7.9 million (Shams first, Scotto details 8/16)
| Dru Smith | $2,378,870 | $2,584,538 | $2,934,743 |
Smith has had to overcome both a torn ACL and Achilles the last couple of years but has been a nice developmental guard in the Miami machine. He was a restricted free agent coming off of his Two-Way contracts, so they were able to lock him down for the minimum amount for a player with three years of experience like him. I wouldn't be surprised if there are partial guarantees or a team option at the end given his injury history, but it appears to be some nice guaranteed money for the former undrafted 27 year old.
9/2 Update: Keith Smith reports that the latter two years are non-guaranteed with late June guaranteed dates. Having those that early in the calendar could be helpful for him getting his deals picked up.
