Pacific Notes: Davis, LeBron, Alapag
Lakers star center Anthony Davis‘ new three-year maximum extension, projected to be worth $186MM, effectively makes him the full-fledged face of the team, opines Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times.
The 6’10” big man is now under team control until the 2027/28 season, when he will turn 35. As Plaschke notes, Davis has already had major injury problems during three of his four seasons with L.A.
After he proved to be the club’s most essential player in leading the Lakers back to the Western Conference Finals this spring, Davis earned the vote of confidence, in Plaschke’s view. That said, Los Angeles will now rise and fall with Davis. Though his offense can be somewhat inconsistent, he remains one of the league’s best defenders. When healthy, he has helped L.A. reach two Western Conference Finals and win one title.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- The Davis signing seems to indicate that the Lakers hope to retain 38-year-old All-Star forward LeBron James even beyond his current contract, which takes him through the 2024/25 season, per Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. James has a player option for the last year of that deal, his age-40 season. “Nothing happens in a vacuum in all this,” a Western Conference executive told Deveney. “You sign AD to this deal, there is the Klutch connection there, and LeBron has a certain level of responsibility for what Davis does with the Lakers. So of course, there is communication there.” Deveney notes that James is widely anticipated to remain a Laker for the rest of his playing career.
- Following a two-season stint with the Kings‘ NBAGL affiliate in Stockton, Jimmy Alapag has been promoted to a player development coaching gig with Sacramento and will join the coaching staff of reigning Coach of the Year Mike Brown, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Alapag, who was an 11-time All-Star while playing for the Philippine Basketball Association, initially coached in that league before joining the Kings’ Summer League bench in 2019.
- In case you missed it, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. has suggested that Golden State is amenable to four-time champ Andre Iguodala playing for a 20th season – and a ninth with the Warriors – but the club is not counting on his return like it did last summer. Iguodala, 39, only appeared in eight contests last year due to injuries. He has yet to officially retire.
Sixers Notes: Harden, Maxey, Morey, Nurse
Some people with the Sixers were surprised that James Harden picked up his 2023/24 player option in June, says Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. According to Scotto, if Harden had opted out, Philadelphia would have been open to re-signing him to another two-year deal – possibly with a team option – but such a short-term commitment wouldn’t have appealed to the former MVP.
Having decided he wanted to leave Philadelphia to join the Clippers, Harden recognized that he wouldn’t be able to get to Los Angeles on a market-value contract if he opted for free agency, so he exercised his option and began pushing for a trade.
Now, the process is somewhat out of his hands, but there continues to be dialogue between the Sixers and Clippers, per Scotto. The start of training camp will be a key inflection point to watch, since the 76ers may not want to have to deal with a disgruntled star in camp this fall.
Here’s more on the Sixers:
- Scotto wonders if the 76ers’ stance against extending Tyrese Maxey this offseason would change if the team takes back one or two multiyear contracts in a Harden deal, since its ability to open up significant cap room in 2024 would be somewhat compromised. However, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who joined Scotto on the HoopsHype podcast, is skeptical that the Sixers will reverse course and extend Maxey, noting that putting off a deal until 2024 allows the club to maintain more trade flexibility. For his part, Maxey probably has no reason to pursue an extension unless Philadelphia is offering the max, Scotto observes.
- The Sixers can no longer blame Doc Rivers or “The Process” if they remain unable to make a deep playoff run, notes Pompey, suggesting that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey could find himself on the hot seat within the next year or two if the team can’t get past the second round of the playoffs. “When Brett Brown was the coach, it was the second round. When Elton Brand was leading the front office, it was the second round,” Pompey said. “Now, you’ve got Morey and three max players or close to it in Harden, (Joel) Embiid, and Tobias Harris, and it’s been three seasons in a row that they ended their season in the second round. I think Morey could be in trouble if they don’t get out of the second round.”
- According to Pompey, one source he spoke to recently indicated that new head coach Nick Nurse won’t be concerned about what the Sixers’ opening night roster looks like as long as it’s fully formed by the time the playoffs begin. However, Pompey believes it would put Nurse in a tough spot if the Harden situation hasn’t been resolved one way or another by the time the season begins. “If you’re a first-year coach taking over a team, you want to know what utensils you’re going to have when you start cooking the meal, not when you’re finishing the meal,” Pompey said. “You want to know what the flour is going to be. When you start baking the cake, you want to start with the flour. You don’t want to bring the flour in at the end when you’ve got to make the best cake possible. You can’t pause the oven and then sprinkle it in there.”
NBA Players With Trade Kickers In 2023/24
A trade kicker is a contractual clause that pays an NBA player a bonus when he’s traded. They’re one of the tools teams have at their disposal to differentiate their free agent offers from the ones put on the table by competing clubs — or to incentivize a player to sign an extension before he reaches free agency.
Sometimes the kicker is worth a fixed amount, but usually it’s based on a percentage of the remaining value of the contract. So, a player who has a 10% trade kicker is eligible for a bonus worth 10% of the amount of money he has yet to collect on his deal.
Regardless of whether a trade kicker is set at a fixed amount or a percentage, the bonus can’t exceed 15% of the remaining value of the contract. Most trade kickers are worth 15%, the highest percentage allowed.
A trade bonus must be paid by the team that trades the player, rather than the team acquiring him. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement also allows a player to waive his trade kicker as part of a deal, if he so chooses.
If you want a more detailed explanation of how trade kickers work, check out the Hoops Rumors Glossary entry on the subject.
Here’s a list of the NBA players who have active trade kickers for 2023/24, listed alphabetically, along with the details of those trade bonuses:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (15%)
- Harrison Barnes, Kings (10%)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (10%)
- Jimmy Butler, Heat (15%)
- Anthony Davis, Lakers (15%)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (15%)
- Draymond Green, Warriors (15%)
- James Harden, Sixers (15%): Traded
- Note: Harden received only a fraction ($40,595) of his full trade bonus.
- Tobias Harris, Sixers (5%)
- Isaiah Hartenstein, Knicks (5%)
- Gordon Hayward, Hornets (15%): Traded
- Al Horford, Celtics (15% or $500K, whichever is lesser)
- Brandon Ingram, Pelicans (15%)
- Kyrie Irving, Mavericks (15%)
- Kyle Kuzma, Wizards (15%)
- Zach LaVine, Bulls (15%)
- Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (15%)
- Caleb Martin, Heat (15%)
- Dejounte Murray, Hawks (15%)
- Bobby Portis, Bucks (15%)
- Julius Randle, Knicks (15%)
- Austin Reaves, Lakers (15%)
- Jalen Smith, Pacers (10%)
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics (15%)
- Klay Thompson, Warriors (15%)
- Matisse Thybulle, Trail Blazers (15%)
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves (5%)
- Jonas Valanciunas, Pelicans (15% or $1MM, whichever is lesser)
The following players have trade bonuses on their contracts, but those bonuses would be voided if they were to be traded during the 2023/24 league year, since they’re already earning this season’s maximum salary:
- Stephen Curry, Warriors (15%)
- Luka Doncic, Mavericks (15%)
- Darius Garland, Cavaliers (15%)
- LeBron James, Lakers (15%)
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (15%)
- Ja Morant, Grizzlies (15%)
- Fred VanVleet, Rockets (15%)
- Trae Young, Hawks (15%)
The following players have signed contract extensions that will include trade kickers, but those extensions won’t go into effect until at least the 2024/25 season:
- LaMelo Ball, Hornets (15%)
- Desmond Bane, Grizzlies (15%)
- Devin Booker, Suns (10%)
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics (7% or $7MM, whichever is lesser)
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (15%)
- Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers (15%)
Central Notes: Mitchell, Rubio, Cunningham, P. Williams
Donovan Mitchell is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but there’s no indication that he and the Cavaliers intend to seriously discuss a new deal, and that shouldn’t be a cause for concern in Cleveland, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during a recent NBA Today appearance (YouTube link).
“Maybe if the Cavs had won the championship last year, maybe Donovan would extend, but I don’t think under any (other) circumstances he was ever considering extending this season, and I think the Cavs knew that when they traded for him,” Windhorst said. “I think the pressure point comes a year from now, when he’s got one year left on his contract. … The Cavs have another year to see where their team is at and where Donovan sees that the Cavs are at.”
Mitchell actually has three seasons left on his current contract, but the final year is a player option, so he can reach free agency as early as 2025. That means he’ll essentially be entering a contract year next summer, which is why Windhorst refers to it as a “pressure point.” The Cavs’ performance – and Mitchell’s own play – in 2023/24 could go a long way toward determining whether the star guard is willing to sign a long-term extension with the team a year from now.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Although Ricky Rubio made his announcement about putting his career on hold for mental health reasons through the Spanish Basketball Federation, the Cavaliers were aware the news was coming and are “fully supportive” of the veteran point guard, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. It remains to be seen whether or not Rubio will be available for the Cavs when the NBA season begins this fall.
- Pistons guard Cade Cunningham has been the standout player on the U.S. Select Team that has been competing against Team USA’s World Cup squad this week in Las Vegas and has beaten it in multiple scrimmages so far, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. While Cunningham’s play in those scrimmages is encouraging for the Pistons and their fans, the former No. 1 pick says he’s simply happy to be back to 100% after a leg injury limited him to 12 games in 2022/23. “I feel healthy again,” Cunningham said. “My leg isn’t a problem for me right now. So I think that’s the biggest difference, just that I can just play freely and not think about my body too much.”
- Given Cunningham’s strong play in Vegas, it’s fair to wonder whether he should be a part of Team USA’s actual World Cup roster instead of the Select Team. A previous report indicated that the Pistons guard was invited to join the World Cup team, which Joe Vardon of The Athletic confirms. According to Vardon, Cunningham explained this week that a desire to manage his workload this summer ahead of his NBA return was the “deciding factor” in turning down that invitation.
- While it’s unclear if former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams has shown enough in his first three NBA seasons to warrant a rookie scale extension from the Bulls this offseason, teammate DeMar DeRozan remains a big believer in Williams’ potential, as Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times details.
Southeast Notes: Adebayo, Lillard, Young, Coulibaly, Magic
The Heat’s pursuit of Damian Lillard could give Bam Adebayo a chance to team up with a close friend, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. They formed a bond while winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, which is one of the reasons Miami stands alone on Lillard’s list of preferred destinations. Adebayo said that along with Lillard’s obvious talents, his “demeanor” could help the Heat make another run at a title.
“How he walks, how he talks, how he presents himself, we have a lot of those similar characteristics,” Adebayo said. “Dame isn’t the loudest person. I’m not the loudest person. We’re two down to earth people that gelled well in the Olympics.”
Adebayo was speaking from his youth basketball camp, where he got plenty of questions about Lillard from the participants. Miami hasn’t made much progress toward a deal because its offers haven’t appealed to Portland and it hasn’t been able to find another team to help facilitate a trade. Adebayo couldn’t offer any inside information, but he urged the campers to remain patient.
“The biggest thing is business,” he said. “Everybody wants it to make sense. Everybody on their side wants it to make sense. Obviously, other sides want it to make sense, too. So I feel like it’s just a waiting game until they reach an agreement, if or when it does happen.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- Hawks guard Trae Young is interested in joining Team USA for the 2024 Olympics (Twitter link from ClutchPoints). Young discussed the possibility in an interview with Gilbert Arenas, saying, “Obviously, I definitely want to … It’s up to them if they want me to … I respect the OGs and understand that you got to take your turn, but I believe that I should be on.”
- Bilal Coulibaly tells Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington that the Wizards were the only team he met with before the draft. Coulibaly’s Metropolitans 92 team was in the French League finals, so he wasn’t able to participate in the normal pre-draft process, but he flew to Washington for a private meeting a few weeks before draft day. Coulibaly said he understands the responsibility of being the first pick of the new front office led by general manager Will Dawkins and Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger. “That’s just that they can trust me,” Coulibaly said. “They know I’m going to do the job for sure. They want me to play defense at first because that’s my biggest tool, so I’m going to do it. They don’t gotta worry about it.”
- Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel examines how Magic lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard are planning to spend the rest of the summer as they prepare for their first NBA training camp.
Cameron Johnson Expects Ben Simmons To Be Close To “Full Form”
Cameron Johnson is optimistic that Ben Simmons will look more like the player he used to be when the Nets open training camp in two months, writes Ethan Sears of The New York Post. Johnson said he was encouraged after talking to Simmons, who is working out this summer in Miami.
“He sounds good,” Johnson said. “He’s in a good place. He says it’s progressing and he’s excited for the season. Looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table this year. I expect him to be, if not full form, pretty close to it.”
Simmons only played 42 games in his first full season with Brooklyn and wasn’t on the court at all after February 15. When he did play, Simmons was dealing with back and knee issues that limited his effectiveness, as the three-time All-Star averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. He also appeared reluctant to shoot, Sears observes, with the confidence problems that plagued him in Philadelphia continuing to affect his game.
Simmons was the centerpiece of the return Brooklyn got when it traded James Harden to the Sixers in February of 2022. Injuries kept him from playing for the remainder of that season, and he hasn’t really been effective since 2020/21.
Sears points out that Simmons is the only current Net ever to appear in the All-Star Game, and at age 27 he has the potential to become a veteran leader for an otherwise young team. He’s under contract for $37.9MM this season and $40.3MM in 2024/25, so it’s vital for Brooklyn that his production begins to approach his salary.
“He’s very important to us,” Johnson said. “There’s things that he does on the court that not many players in the NBA can do. And he adds something that is very valuable to myself, Spencer (Dinwiddie), Mikal (Bridges) and being able to set us up and get us shots and play in flow like that. With him on the court, it’ll make us a better team.”
When Simmons reports for training camp, he’ll have to get used to a new group of teammates. Sears notes that he only played three games after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded in February. The Nets are now built around Johnson and Bridges, who were acquired from Phoenix in the Durant deal, along with Dinwiddie and fifth-year center Nic Claxton.
Simmons has the talent to bring that group together, but only if he can overcome the physical and psychological issues that have derailed his career.
“We’ll have to learn how to play in a manner that suits him on the court,” Johnson said. “He allows for me, Mikal, Spence to run around and find opportunities. Always head up, always looking. We’ll have to fully develop how that scheme will look. “Defensively, we’ll have a unique advantage of having Ben and (Claxton), who can guard everybody on the court. Definitely a lot of positives there.”
Souley Boum Signs With Nuggets
The Nuggets have signed free agent guard Souley Boum, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. It’s a training camp contract with no guaranteed money, a source tells Smith. The signing was completed on Thursday, per RealGM’s transaction log.
Boum, 24, went undrafted out of Xavier this year after averaging 16.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a super senior. He began his college basketball career at San Francisco before transferring to UTEP for three seasons.
Boum played for the Kings during Summer League, averaging 7.3 PPG in three games.
The defending champions are now at the summer maximum with 21 players under contract.
Hornets Signing R.J. Hunter
Free agent shooting guard R.J. Hunter has reached an agreement with the Hornets, agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, non-guaranteed deal, tweets Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer.
The 29-year-old last played in the NBA in 2018/19 when he appeared in one game with the Celtics on a two-way contract. He had short stays with a series of overseas teams since then, but sat out last season with a ruptured left patellar tendon he suffered in 2022 while playing in Australia for the Sydney Kings.
Boston selected Hunter with the 28th pick in the 2015 draft, but he was waived after just one year. He signed with the Bulls before the start of the 2016/17 season, but only got into three games before being released. He also appeared in five games with the Rockets on a two-way deal.
The addition of Hunter, along with the recent signing of Frank Ntilikina, will bring Charlotte up to 16 players on standard deals. They also have a pair of players on two-way contracts.
Knicks Notes: Grimes, Randle, DiVincenzo, Brunson
Playing for the Select Team is only part of Quentin Grimes‘ summer schedule as he prepares for his third NBA season, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Once he’s done competing against Team USA in Las Vegas, the Knicks guard will head to Memphis to work out with former NBA All-Star and current Tigers coach Penny Hardaway. He also reached out to ex-NBA guard J.J. Redick and spent two days learning the game from him in the Hamptons.
“Got in a real good workout with him, picking his brain about how he comes off pick and rolls, down screens, pin-downs, floppy action,” Grimes said. “Really just try to take as much as I can from him and incorporate it into … this upcoming season.”
After getting uneven playing time as a rookie, Grimes became a regular member of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation last season, starting 66 of the 71 games he played and averaging 11.3 PPG while shooting 38.6% from three-point range. He’s working to improve at making plays off the dribble and wants to upgrade his defense as well.
“To be effective on the offensive end and guard the best player defensively, you’ve got to be in supreme shape,” Grimes said. “That’s one of the big things I learned from JJ. The way he was coming off screens. You’ve got to be one of the top (conditioned) guys in the league. So I’m definitely trying to make sure I’m in the best shape possible coming into training camp.”
There’s more on the Knicks:
- Grimes defended the work ethic of teammate Julius Randle, who battled ankle issues throughout the playoffs, Begley adds. Randle continued to play after aggravating a late-season injury to his left ankle in the series against Cleveland. “It just really shows you that nobody should ever be questioning his toughness, how much he wants it, how much he cares about the team, how much he cares about winning,” Grimes said. “… He cares a lot about this team. He does everything he can possibly (do) to make sure his body is right, to make sure he’s in the best shape possible to make sure he can give it all.”
- Grimes told Ethan Sears of The New York Post that he’s excited to have Donte DiVincenzo on the team, even though the free agent addition might cut into his playing time. Sears suggests they might have a training camp battle for a starting wing role. “I think everything you do is competition,” Grimes said. “You wanna have the best players out there every day to make us better. Competing against him, Josh (Hart), Jalen (Brunson), (Immanuel Quickley) is gonna make everybody better, really.”
- In addition to giving the Knicks more shooting, Brunson believes DiVincenzo will bring an “edge” to the team in whatever role he plays (Twitter link from Knicks Videos).
Community Shootaround: Cavaliers’ Offseason
The Cavaliers made a major splash last summer, trading for star guard Donovan Mitchell after an impressive turnaround in 2021/22. Mitchell made his first All-NBA appearance in ’22/23 following an excellent all-around year, but Cleveland — which went 51-31 during the regular season and entered the playoffs as the East’s No. 4 seed — had an early postseason exit, falling to the Knicks in a rather lopsided first-round series.
In addition to experience, the Cavaliers needed to find more shooting, depth and perhaps most importantly a good fit at small forward entering ’23/24. The team prioritized re-signing free agent swignman Caris LeVert as well, giving him a two-year, $32MM contract.
As an over-the-cap team, the Cavs didn’t have a ton of money to spend on free agents this offseason, and they only held one pick in June’s draft — 49th overall — which they used on former Eastern Michigan wing Emoni Bates, later signing him to a two-way contract. They also quickly reached an agreement to sign undrafted guard Craig Porter Jr. to a two-way deal and filled their third two-way slot by re-signing Isaiah Mobley.
In free agency, the Cavaliers took advantage of the new CBA’s more lenient salary-matching rules for non-taxpaying teams to give former Heat wing Max Strus more money than he previously would have been eligible for based on the outgoing salaries involved in the sign-and-trade to land him. They also gave forward Georges Niang a significant chunk of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception and used a portion of their bi-annual exception on guard Ty Jerome.
As our roster count shows, the Cavs still have a couple of standard roster spots open, but will almost certainly only add one more player to their main roster due to their proximity to the luxury tax. All three two-way slots are filled, as previously mentioned. Eventually, they’ll add some players on Exhibit 10 training camp deals to fill out their G League team.
Here’s a more condensed rundown of their offseason moves:
Roster additions:
- Strus (four-year, $62.3MM contract via sign-and-trade)
- Niang (three-year, $26MM deal)
- Jerome (two-year, $5MM deal)
- Damian Jones (via trade for cash)
- Bates
- Porter
- Pete Nance (Exhibit 10 deal; not official)
Subtractions:
- Cedi Osman (traded to Spurs in Strus deal)
- Lamar Stevens (same as Osman, except Stevens was released before his contract became guaranteed and is currently an unrestricted free agent; he’s ineligible to re-sign with Cleveland)
- Dylan Windler (joined Knicks on two-way deal)
- Robin Lopez (signed with Bucks)
- Raul Neto (signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce)
Danny Green and Mamadi Diakite (two-way) remain unrestricted free agents.
It’s worth noting that Ricky Rubio, who returned to action last season following a torn ACL, recently announced that he was taking a break from basketball to focus on his mental health. It’s unclear how that will affect the veteran guard’s status entering next season.
We want to know what you think. Did the Cavs improve this summer? Will they advance past the first round of the playoffs in 2023/24, assuming they make it in? Head to the comments and share your thoughts on Cleveland’s offseason.