After having his qualifying offer withdrawn by the Bucks earlier this week, free agent guard Ryan Rollins is drawing interest from a handful of teams around the NBA, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who says the Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Lakers are among the clubs with Rollins on their radar.
A reunion with Milwaukee also hasn’t been ruled out either, Scotto reports. Even after rescinding his qualifying offer and making him an unrestricted free agent, the Bucks are in position to hang onto Rollins’ Early Bird rights, which would allow them to go over the cap to re-sign him after they use up all their room.
Portland still has its $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception available, while San Antonio and Los Angeles have the $5.1MM bi-annual exception on hand, Scotto writes. However, the Suns could only offer more than a minimum-salary deal if they shed salary — perhaps via a Bradley Beal buyout agreement.
Rollins had a modest breakout year this past season, registering averages of 6.2 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game, along with a shooting line of .487/.408/.800. He had only made 25 appearances across two NBA seasons prior to 2024/25.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- Examining the Hornets‘ roster crunch, Scotto identifies Josh Okogie and DaQuan Jeffries – who are on non-guaranteed contracts – as candidates to be waived if no trade opportunities involving them arise. Executives who spoke to HoopsHype also view former first-round pick Nick Smith Jr. as a player who could be traded. That applies to veterans on expiring contracts like Pat Connaughton and Collin Sexton as well.
- Before he agreed to re-sign with the Hornets, point guard Tre Mann received interest from the Bucks, Scotto reports. Milwaukee is in the market for additional point guard depth after losing Damian Lillard to an Achilles tear and subsequently planning to waive him.
- Echoing reporting from ESPN’s Shams Charania, Scotto says that teams who reached out to Trail Blazers officials for feedback on Deandre Ayton got positive reviews on the big man, who was a “community staple in Portland and hosted many team bonding events.” Reporting from The Athletic had suggested that Ayton’s attitude and bad habits played a part in the decision to part ways with him.
- Addressing the Jonas Valanciunas situation, Scotto notes that the Nuggets have tried to acquire the veteran center for the past couple years and have envisioned him playing a significant role if he reports to Denver, giving superstar Nikola Jokic more opportunities to rest. Amid rumors that Valanciunas is traveling to Greece and hopes to sign with the EuroLeague club Panathinaikos, Scotto hears that the 33-year-old is expected to address the situation soon.
Re Ayton, either Jason Quick’s piece in the Athletic was BS or Shams is trying to sell us a lie that Ayton was a great teammate. Given the history here of phoning it in on the court and falling out with coaches etc I’m going to believe that it’s Shams seeking us a bunch of crap. Honestly, that guy has lost so much credibility this year. He needs to understand that his reputation is more valuable than his access.
How JV would not want to play with the Joker is crazy.
Yeah really, who doesn’t want to play with a player with 100% control of the team. Adelmann is the Jokic’s puppet, come on
How JV would like to sit on bench – behind joker, you mean
He literally won’t play a minute with Joker even if he’s on the Nuggets.
This could work out perfectly for Denver. If he is willing to retire from the NBA and leave behind his full salary, he becomes hugely valuable to any team looking to shed some salary so they can do something else. Nuggs could turn him into some really nice assets.
Hmm I never thought of this and I assume the league would be ok with it
Now that you mention it perhaps this was Denver’s plan all along ……. Only hole in that argument is why didn’t Sac capitalize on it more then than Saric ???
Strange events but your idea could be a very valuable to Denver at this moment
Easy. He was sucking wind getting up and down the floor at 12 feet of elevation in Sac. He knows he can’t perform in Denver.
I agree 100%. I think I he gets back to playing at least 25 mpg, & even pairing with Jokic at times he could easily be a 12 to 14 ppg scorer with 10 rpg again. He’s got such a great feel for the game & great hands. He’s always been an automatic bucket & with his big body the pairing of Jokic + V could really beat up other teams for 10 mpg.
Even if he plays 20 to 25 mpg mostly while Jokic rests I think he could spell jokic very well in those minutes rebounding & with post play. He’s always been a center I felt that was very effective but overlooked a bit.
It’s SOP to not bad mouth players after they leave your organization, as how would that look to future free agents? So it’s hardly surprising that the Blazers gave Ayton a good review. Plus, it would be in the Blazers best interest for one of their competitors to overpay for him.
And what would that drivel even tell us? Team bonding? What, did they get together and have a LAN party? No one accused Ayton of being a monster last time I checked.
N Harrison didnt get memo on this ‘SOP’ concept
He got his P mixed up with a B.
I’ll see myself out.
I feel like this is exactly what happened. Someone was honest about him initially but once it became a story, the franchise doesn’t want to be seen as bad mouthing a guy on his way out the door anyway
Sounds like Cole Anthony could be on the radar of the Bucks.
I like him for Denver as well , potential for a nifty deal too considering he’ll have money coming from a. 2 nd team too on the backside
JV can help Denver win a chip. By playing 16-20 mins a game. He has a one year contract. So can leave a champion next year.
Why would the Spurs want another 6’4” PG? I feel like they are thrown into every rumor at this point.