Kings Officially Announce Mike Brown’s Coaching Staff
The Kings have finalized their coaching staff for Mike Brown‘s first season in Sacramento, according to a press release from the team.
As previously reported, former Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez is joining the Kings as associate head coach after working with Brown on the Nigerian national team. Jay Triano, Doug Christie, Luke Loucks, and Leandro Barbosa will also be assistant coaches on Brown’s staff, as anticipated.
Dutch Gaitley and Lindsey Harding will be assistants as well, with Gaitley serving as director of player development. Harding and Deividas Dulkys, whose hiring was previously reported, will be player development coaches.
Robbie Lemons (senior director of coaching analytics and strategy), Charles Allen (head video coordinator/special assistant to the head coach), and Garrius Adams (assistant video coordinator) will fill out the staff, which Brown referred to as a “diverse and talented group.”
Roy Rana, Mike Longabardi, and Rico Hines are among the veteran assistants on former head coach Alvin Gentry‘s staff who won’t be returning to Sacramento for the 2022/23 season. Longabardi joined the Hawks, Hines joined the Raptors, and Rana got a job coaching a team in Japan.
Cavs To Hold Player-Led Mini-Camp In Los Angeles
A number of Cavaliers players will meet next week in Los Angeles for a voluntary mini-camp, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who reports that All-Star guard Darius Garland and Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley are helping to organize the workouts.
Sources tell Fedor that the majority of Cavs players are expected to participate, though some of the team’s international players may not make it to L.A. due to overseas obligations, including to their national teams. That group includes Lauri Markkanen, Cedi Osman, and Raul Neto.
Collin Sexton also won’t be attending the mini-camp, since he’s still a restricted free agent and isn’t under contract with the Cavaliers, Fedor notes.
A number of clubs around the NBA hold voluntary offseason mini-camps to help improve team chemistry and to prepare for the season. As Fedor writes, LeBron James used to organize them during his Cleveland days, and handed off that responsibility to Kevin Love in recent years.
Love spoke at the end of the 2021/22 season about possibly holding a mini-camp in Austin or Nashville, according to Fedor, who says the possibility of player-led workouts taking place in Nashville next month remains on the table.
Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team
On Thursday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2022/23 season. Although that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the current season, not every NBA team was represented. Five of the league’s 30 franchises – the Spurs, Rockets, Magic, Pistons and Pacers – didn’t have a single player in the top 50.
Our list of highest-paid players for 2022/23 also only provided a snapshot for this year. For example, Kevin Love, who cracked the top 50, will be well compensated for the coming season but is on an expiring contract and will almost certainly fall off that list next year.
Today, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list, as well as identifying some of the league’s most lucrative multiyear commitments — we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the 2022/23 season and its highest-paid player in total.
Let’s dive in…
Atlanta Hawks
2022/23: Trae Young ($37,096,500)- Total: Trae Young (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
Boston Celtics
- 2022/23: Jayson Tatum ($30,351,780)
- Total: Jayson Tatum (four years, $134,896,800)
- Note: Tatum’s final year is a player option.
Brooklyn Nets
- 2022/23: Kevin Durant ($44,119,845)
- Note: Durant’s cap hit includes a $42,969,845 base salary and $1,150,000 in likely incentives.
- Total: Kevin Durant (four years, $197,656,908)
- Note: Durant’s four-year earnings include $192,504,908 in base salaries and $5,152,000 in likely incentives.
Charlotte Hornets
- 2022/23: Gordon Hayward ($30,075,000)
- Total: Terry Rozier (four years, $96,258,694)
- Note: A small amount ($1,718,905) of Rozier’s final-year salary is non-guaranteed.
- Note: A small amount ($1,718,905) of Rozier’s final-year salary is non-guaranteed.
Chicago Bulls
- 2022/23: Zach LaVine ($37,096,500)
- Total: Zach LaVine (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: LaVine’s final year is a player option.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2022/23: Kevin Love ($28,942,830)
- Total: Darius Garland (six years, $201,770,795)
- Note: The amount owed to Garland could increase to $240,340,795 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2023. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $133MM salary cap for 2023/24.
Dallas Mavericks
- 2022/23: Luka Doncic ($37,096,500)
- Total: Luka Doncic (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: Doncic’s final year is a player option.
Denver Nuggets
- 2022/23: Nikola Jokic ($33,047,803)
- Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $32,478,837 base salary and $568,966 in likely incentives. He also has another $568,966 in unlikely incentives.
- Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $32,478,837 base salary and $568,966 in likely incentives. He also has another $568,966 in unlikely incentives.
- Total: Nikola Jokic (six years, $303,037,803)
- Note: Jokic’s final year is a player option. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $133MM salary cap for 2023/24.
Detroit Pistons
- 2022/23: Kelly Olynyk ($12,804,878)
- Total: Marvin Bagley III (three years, $37,500,000)
Golden State Warriors
- 2022/23: Stephen Curry ($48,070,014)
- Total: Stephen Curry (four years, $215,353,662)
2022/23: 
2022/23: And-Ones: Offseason, Tampering Rules, FA Signings
In a roundtable discussion, Howard Beck, Chris Mannix, Robin Lundberg, and Rohan Nadkarni discussed the best, worst, most surprising, and most intriguing moves of the 2022 NBA offseason, agreeing on some issues and sharing opposing views on others.
For instance, while Beck and Mannix both view the Rudy Gobert blockbuster as the best roster move of the summer, Beck makes the case that the Jazz‘s side of the deal was the offseason’s top move, while Mannix argues for the Timberwolves‘ side.
Beck, Lundberg, and Nadkarni, meanwhile, all named the Hawks‘ acquisition of Dejounte Murray as the summer’s most intriguing roster move, while Beck and Lundberg agree that Kevin Durant‘s trade request with four years left on his contract was the offseason’s worst move. From a basketball perspective, Durant would be best off staying in Brooklyn and playing for a Nets team that looks capable of contending for a title, Beck writes.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The NBA’s tampering rules aren’t exactly working as intended, but it’s unclear if there’s any obvious way to fix them, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “The threat of harsher penalties and random audits doesn’t even make teams flinch,” one source told Todd. “And at this point, if we investigated every possible instance of tampering, the whole league would come to a screeching halt and nothing would ever get done.” According to Todd, multiple front office executives that she spoke to expressed support for moving free agency ahead of the draft, among other changes to the current system.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic wrapped up his series on which teams improved the most and least this offseason by listing his picks from 20 to 11 and from 10 to one. The Sixers were Aldridge’s choice for the team that made the best roster upgrades, followed by the Hawks, Nuggets, Celtics, and Timberwolves.
- Dan Devine of The Ringer shines a light on seven under-the-radar free agent agreements that he’s intrigued by, including the Heat‘s three-year deal with Caleb Martin, the Timberwolves‘ acquisition of Kyle Anderson, and the Pistons‘ investment in Marvin Bagley III.
Community Shootaround: 2022’s Best, Worst Big-Money FA Deals
When we identified the top 50 highest-paid NBA players of 2022/23 on Thursday, four names on that list were free agents who signed new contracts this offseason. Those players, who received the four most lucrative free agent deals of 2022, are as follows:
- Bradley Beal, Wizards: Five years, $251,019,650. Fifth-year player option. 15% trade kicker. No-trade clause.
- Zach LaVine, Bulls: Five years, $215,159,700. Fifth-year player option. 15% trade kicker.
- Deandre Ayton, Suns: Four years, $132,929,128.
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks: Four years, $104,000,000. Fourth-year player option. 10% trade kicker.
As our tracker shows, five other 2022 free agents received multiyear contracts that will pay them at least $15MM per year. Here are those players, along with the details of their new deals:
- Anfernee Simons, Trail Blazers: Four years, $100,000,000.
- Luguentz Dort, Thunder: Five years, $82,500,000. Fifth-year team option. Includes $5MM in unlikely incentives.
- Jusuf Nurkic, Trail Blazers: Four years, $70,000,000.
- James Harden, Sixers: Two years, $68,640,000. Second-year player option. 15% trade kicker.
- Mitchell Robinson, Knicks: Four years, $60,000,000.
These nine contracts are what we’re considering the “big-money” deals of 2022 free agency. That term is subjective, but no other free agent received a contract worth more than $50MM in total, or with an annual average value of $15MM+, so these deals are in a class of their own.
With that in mind, we want to know which of this summer’s biggest free agent contracts you view as the best and worst values from a team perspective.
The Wizards have received some criticism not just for signing Beal to a contract exceeding $50MM per year but for handing him a series of perks that will give him significant leverage if the team wants to trade him down the road. But are there other contracts in the groups above that you’d consider even less team-friendly than Beal’s?
Harden, meanwhile, has been lauded for taking a pay cut that created the spending power necessary for the Sixers to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, though his average salary ($34.32MM) is still the third-highest of any of this summer’s free agent deals. Does the short-term nature of that contract and his potential ceiling make it the most team-friendly contract of these nine, or is there another one you like more?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents on this year’s best and worst big-money free agent signings!
Bulls Rookie Justin Lewis Injures Knee
Rookie Bulls two-way player Justin Lewis injured his knee during a workout, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The exact extent of the damage is not yet known, but sources inform Johnson that the team is worried the 6’7″ forward out of Marquette may have torn his ACL.
Johnson notes that Chicago staffers had been optimistic about Lewis’ ability to help the Bulls as a rookie, despite not having a spot on the team’s standard 15-man roster. The athletic forward boasts the physical tools to be a solid defender at the NBA level, and had also developed into a volume long-range shooter during his second college season, converting 34.9% of his 5.2 triples a night.
Lewis averaged 16.8 PPG on 44% shooting, 7.9 RPG and 1.7 APG while being named to the 2021/22 All-Big East First Team during his final season with Marquette. Lewis posted more modest numbers while playing for the Bulls’ Summer League team in Las Vegas this year, averaging 7.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 0.8 BPG across 22.5 MPG.
Though the 20-year-old had been projected to have his name called on draft night in 2022, he instead went undrafted, then quickly agreed to terms with the Bulls on a two-way contract. The team still has one open two-way roster slot available.
International Notes: Terry, Derrickson, Warriors, Wizards, Perrantes
Former NBA power forwards Emanuel Terry and Marcus Derrickson have joined the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando.
Terry, who went undrafted out of Lincoln Memorial in 2018, logged time in the G League with the Canton Charge and Sioux Falls Skyforce during the 2018/19 season. He made his NBA debut that year on a 10-day deal with the Suns, which he followed up with a subsequent 10-day contract with the Heat.
Internationally, the 6’9″ big man has played for teams in Turkey, Israel, Serbia, and France. Most recently, he played for the Magic’s Summer League club this year in Las Vegas. During the 2021/22 season, Terry re-joined the Suns by signing a 10-day hardship exception. He didn’t score a point for Phoenix, but grabbed 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.
The 6’7″ Derrickson, meanwhile joined the Warriors on a two-way contract during the 2018/19 season after going undrafted out of Georgetown. He played sparingly with Golden State during his lone year of NBA action, averaging 4.2 PPG in 11 games. Derrickson has suited up for the Hawks’ G League club, the College Park Skyhawks, and the Celtics’ NBAGL affiliate, the Maine Celtics, in the intervening years. He also played for South Korean teams Busan KT Sonicboom and the Goyang Orions.
Here’s more international news:
- The Wizards and the 2022 title-winning Warriors are set to face off in Japan for two preseason games this fall, per an NBA press release. Golden State will play Washington at the Saitama Super Arena on September 30 and October 2. The press release notes that these will be the 15th and 16th NBA contests played in Japan. The first NBA game ever staged in Japan was a November 2, 1990 regular season matchup between the Suns and Jazz in Tokyo.
- Former Cavaliers point guard London Perrantes has inked a two-year extension to remain with Israeli club Hapoel Galil Gilboa, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 6’2″ guard went undrafted out of Virginia in 2017, but joined Cleveland on a two-way deal ahead of his rookie year. In 14 games with the Cavaliers, the 2017 All-ACC Second Teamer logged just 66 total minutes. He has since played for clubs in France and Turkey, in addition to suiting up for the Wizards’ G League club, the Capital City Go-Go, and the Spurs’ NBAGL affiliate, the Austin Spurs. Perrantes first signed on with Hapeol Gilboa Galil in 2021. In 21 games for the team during the 2021/22 season, he averaged 11.0 PPG, 6.5 APG and 3.0 RPG.
- In case you missed it, former Hawks point guard Cat Barber recently signed on with Ukranian team BC Budivelynk.
Northwest Notes: Green, Jazz, Wallace
Nuggets forward Jeff Green put together a voluntary minicamp for himself and some of his Denver teammates this week in Miami, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Davon Reed, Zeke Nnaji, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Jack White joined Green for the workouts. Wind adds that additional players hoped to join them but were unable to carve out the time in their schedules.
The Nuggets are preparing for an exciting 2022/23 NBA season, with reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic set to be rejoined by point guard Jamal Murray, who missed all of 2021/22 due to a left ACL tear, and small forward Michael Porter Jr., who appeared in just nine games before back surgery waylaid him for the rest of the year. The team’s starting lineup will be rounded out by power forward Aaron Gordon and newly-acquired 3-and-D specialist Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Nuggets role players like Green, Reed, and Nanji, plus the three rookies joining them in Miami this week, could prove to be important contributors during what Denver hopes will be an extended postseason run.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- After the Jazz appeared to signal the beginning of a rebuild with their trade of All-Star center Rudy Gobert for a package comprising young players, movable veterans and draft compensation, they seem set for a lackluster 2022/23 season. Brandon Judd of the Deseret News notes that Kendra Andrews, Andrew Lopez and Kevin Pelton of ESPN (Insider link) projects the club to finish with a 26-56 record next season.
- Former Nuggets scouting coordinator Jon Wallace is departing his post in Denver to join the Timberwolves as both Minnesota’s director of player personnel and the general manager of the club’s NBAGL affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, reports Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Wallace tweets that Wallace was especially valued with the Nuggets for his impact on their guards. Wallace is joining a revamped Minnesota front office led by Tim Connelly, himself the former Denver team president.
- In case you missed it, Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor recently sat for a long-ranging discussion about the new-look team’s personnel and expectations.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Suns, Saric, LeBron
In taking stock of the Kings‘ entire 2022/23 roster, Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee finds some reasons for optimism.
Biderman cites the two-way upside and on-court fit of rookie Keegan Murray, the Summer League MVP and No. 4 overall draft pick this year, as a key part of the sunny outlook for Sacramento this season.
As Biderman notes, star point guard De’Aaron Fox struggled to connect consistently from long range for the bulk of the season, but made 38% of his triples across his final 16 contests, following the team’s trade for center Domantas Sabonis. Biderman considers Murray, Fox, Sabonis and second-year guard Davion Mitchell, the ninth pick in 2021 out of Baylor, to be the club’s core moving forward.
Biderman also expresses enthusiasm for the three-point shooting help that should be provided by new additions Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Suns may be able to build on their continuity after two relatively successful seasons, but Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube video link) wonders how newly re-signed center Deandre Ayton will fit in following a tense postseason and summer. Marks ultimately projects a repeat of the team’s regular-season dominance in 2021/22. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst opines that the Suns could look to move veteran starting power forward Jae Crowder, a free agent in 2023, by the season’s trade deadline.
- After missing 2021/22 with a torn ACL in his right knee, Suns big man Dario Saric talked about returning to game action for Croatia this summer, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “The feeling of being back is fantastic,” Saric said. “After the end of the NBA season, I trained there until mid-July. I was preparing to be as fit as possible. I feel good.”
- Discussing LeBron James‘ contract situation, Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter video link) opines that it might behoove the Lakers‘ All-Star forward to follow the example set by Sixers guard James Harden. Harden opted out of the final year of his deal this summer before ultimately taking a pay cut so that Philadelphia management could add more quality depth around Harden and Joel Embiid than would have otherwise been possible. If James takes the same route, it could potentially open up a maximum-salary slot for L.A. next summer, Bontemps observes.
Wolves’ Glen Taylor Talks Gobert, McDaniels, Russell, Towns
Appearing on The Scoop podcast with Darren Wolfson of SKOR North and 5 Eyewitness News, Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor admitted he was somewhat surprised by the team’s acquisition of star center Rudy Gobert, since it “happened fairly fast.”
According to Taylor, new Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly had his eye on multiple impact trade targets, but Gobert was his “number one option.” The input of head coach Chris Finch, who expressed confidence in his ability to use Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, was also a key factor in Minnesota’s decision to pull the trigger on the blockbuster deal.
“What I did when Tim and Chris talked to me about this trade is to ask (Finch) is there a system that he knows how to utilize these players,” Taylor said. “And he was very confident that he did understand how to utilize their skill sets, being two big guys. We talked about a lot, so he convinced me that this is something that is going to take us to a winning situation, and gave us the go-ahead to make the trade.”
Taylor confirmed that the Jazz pushed for Jaden McDaniels to be part of the trade package for Gobert, which “prolonged the trade talks for a while,” but the Wolves were eventually able to meet Utah’s asking price without including the young forward.
Here’s more from Taylor on the Wolves:
- Asked if he’d like to see D’Angelo Russell sign an extension before the season begins, Taylor said it might benefit both sides to hold off and see how the 2022/23 season goes. “(Finch) believes that with the new lineup, and with Russell in that lineup, that he’ll have a much better year just because of the way we’re going to play,” Taylor said. “He says he thinks there’s a big upside for Russell with this group of (players). That’s to his advantage and to our advantage if it works out.”
- The decision to give Towns a super-max extension this offseason was an easy one, Taylor said: “It was a non-issue. That’s what we set it up for, the elite players, and Karl has proved he’s one of those players.”
- Taylor said that he doesn’t expect the Timberwolves to make any more significant roster moves this offseason, though he didn’t rule out the possibility that Connelly could surprise him. “I just know Tim keeps his ears and eyes open all the time, looking (to see) if there’s something else that might happen,” Taylor said. “He’s very proactive if he sees an opportunity that could enhance our team. I think we’re set, but always knowing that he’ll be looking for an opportunity.”
- The plan remains for Taylor to hand over control of the franchise to incoming owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in a little over a year. The Wolves’ longtime owner said he’s not having any regrets about giving up control of the team as it becomes a more legitimate contender. “No, I don’t have any second thoughts. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Taylor said. “We’ve left some options open that I’ll continue to be involved if I want to be involved, and that suits me just fine.”