G League Moves: Kings, Wizards, Cavs, Jazz, Hawks, More
While the NBA trade market has been quiet since July, NBA G League teams have been active in recent days, swapping returning player rights and draft picks ahead of the 2024/25 season.
A player’s G League returning rights are only valuable in certain situations. If a player is on a standard or two-way contract with an NBA team, those returning rights mean little, since the player will play for his NBA’s team affiliate when he reports to the G League. Even for players not on NBA rosters, returning rights offer no assurances for G League teams — the player could opt to play in Europe, Australia, Asia, or in another non-NBAGL league.
However, most G League trades made at this point in the year are completed with the knowledge that at least one of the players involved in the deal intends to sign an NBAGL contract and report to the team acquiring him. And in some cases, the trades represent the start of a greater opportunity for a player.
For instance, last summer, Trevelin Queen (Osceola Magic) and Alondes Williams (Sioux Falls Skyforce) were among the players who had their returning rights acquired by new teams. Queen and Williams initially signed training camp contracts with the NBA parent clubs (Orlando and Miami), but were eventually promoted to two-way deals and finished the 2023/24 season in the NBA.
Here are some details on the latest trades completed in the G League:
- The Stockton Kings, Capital City Go-Go (Wizards), and Cleveland Charge (Cavaliers) finalized a three-team deal that sent Jules Bernard‘s returning rights to Cleveland, the rights to Dexter Dennis and Justin Powell to Stockton, and NBA veteran Jaylen Nowell to Capital City, per a press release from the Kings. Nowell has reportedly agreed to a camp deal with the Wizards.
- Stockton followed up that deal by reaching a separate agreement with the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz‘s affiliate (press release). The Kings acquired the rights to Jayce Johnson and a 2025 second-round pick in exchange for the rights to Dane Goodwin.
- The College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks‘ G League affiliate, sent the returning rights to Miles Norris and Joel Ayayi to the Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies) in exchange for Michael Devoe‘s rights and the Indiana Mad Ants’ 2025 first-round pick.
- The Skyhawks subsequently flipped that 2025 Mad Ants first-rounder to the San Diego Clippers for Joey Hauser‘s rights (Twitter links). Hauser is reportedly joining the Hawks this fall on an Exhibit 10 deal.
- The Mexico City Capitanes – the G League’s only unaffiliated team – has made a pair of trades. The Capitanes sent Ethan Thompson‘s rights to the Osceola Magic in exchange for the rights to D.J. Wilson and a 2024 first-round pick (Twitter link), then acquired Greg Brown‘s returning rights from the Texas Legends (Mavericks) in exchange for the rights to Phillip Wheeler and a 2025 second-round pick (press release).
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Butler, Martin, Baker, Plowden
Could Ausar Thompson and Simone Fontecchio be part of the Pistons’ starting lineup? James Edwards III of The Athletic speculates that could be the case, noting that Thompson’s defense and Fontecchio’s shooting would mesh well with Cade Cunningham‘s skills and responsibilities. That would leave summer acquisitions Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. on a much improved second unit. Edwards takes an educated guess on how the team’s depth chart will shake under a new coaching staff.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Heat are unlikely to make a substantial move prior to the season, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Winderman doubts there will be an upcoming blockbuster deal in the league on the scale of the Damian Lillard trade, which occurred just ahead of training camps last September. Depending on how Jimmy Butler’s contract situation plays out, the Heat could do something big before the February trade deadline or just wait for Butler’s opt-out decision next offseason. Butler said early this summer he wouldn’t sign an offseason extension.
- The Nets‘ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, traded their 2025 first- and second-round draft picks to the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves‘ NBAGL squad, in exchange for the returning player rights to forward Tyrese Martin last week. That could be a prelude toward Martin receiving a training camp deal from Brooklyn, according to NetsDaily.com. The G League trade opens the door for Martin to sign an Exhibit 10 contract. Martin was the most productive player on the Summer League roster whose rights weren’t controlled by Brooklyn, the story notes.
- The Magic‘s NBA G League team made a trade, acquiring the returning player rights to big man Robert Baker II and a 2024 second round NBA G League draft pick from the Hawks’ G League club, the College Park Skyhawks, the Osceola Magic announced (via Twitter). The Skyhawks acquired Daeqwon Plowden‘s returning rights. Baker, 26, played five games in the Las Vegas Summer League for the Skyhawks, averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds. Plowden signed a two-way deal with the Warriors this season. Atlanta won’t be able to use those returning rights unless he’s waived by Golden State. It’s possibly a sign that the Warriors don’t plan to retain Plowden.
2024/25 NBA Over/Unders: Southeast Division
With the 2024/25 NBA regular season set to tip off next month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including Bovada and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2023/24, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’24/25?
We’ll continue our series today with the Southeast Division…
Orlando Magic
- 2023/24 record: 47-35
- Over/under for 2024/25: 47.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cory Joseph, Tristan Da Silva
- Lost: Markelle Fultz, Joe Ingles, Chuma Okeke
How many games will the Magic win in 2024/25?
-
Over 47.5 57% (205)
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Under 47.5 43% (154)
Total votes: 359
Miami Heat
- 2023/24 record: 46-36
- Over/under for 2024/25: 44.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Alec Burks, Kel’el Ware, Pelle Larsson
- Lost: Caleb Martin, Delon Wright, Patty Mills, Orlando Robinson
How many games will the Heat win in 2024/25?
-
Under 44.5 63% (215)
-
Over 44.5 37% (126)
Total votes: 341
Atlanta Hawks
- 2023/24 record: 36-46
- Over/under for 2024/25: 35.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
How many games will the Hawks win in 2024/25?
-
Under 35.5 66% (241)
-
Over 35.5 34% (122)
Total votes: 363
Charlotte Hornets
- 2023/24 record: 21-61
- Over/under for 2024/25: 29.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Josh Green, Tidjane Salaun, Taj Gibson
- Lost: Davis Bertans, JT Thor, Aleksej Pokusevski, Bryce McGowens
How many games will the Hornets win in 2024/25?
-
Under 29.5 63% (217)
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Over 29.5 37% (127)
Total votes: 344
Washington Wizards
- 2023/24 record: 15-67
- Over/under for 2024/25: 20.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
How many games will the Wizards win in 2024/25?
-
Under 20.5 57% (201)
-
Over 20.5 43% (154)
Total votes: 355
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (58.5 wins): Over (69.7%)
- New York Knicks (53.5 wins): Over (58.8%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (52.5 wins): Under (51.7%)
- Toronto Raptors (30.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
- Brooklyn Nets (19.5 wins): Over (54.3%)
- Dallas Mavericks (49.5 wins): Over (78.0%)
- Memphis Grizzlies (47.5 wins): Under (65.6%)
- New Orleans Pelicans (46.5 wins): Under (60.6%)
- Houston Rockets (43.5 wins): Under (51.4%)
- San Antonio Spurs (36.5 wins): Under (52.9%)
Community Shootaround: Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament
The play-in tournament ensures that at least 10 teams in each conference will get a taste of the postseason.
Unless something unforseen happens, eight teams in the Eastern Conference can already plan on playing beyond their regular season finales. It’s safe to assume the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, Magic, Knicks, Cavaliers, Pacers and Heat will occupy eight of the postseason slots. The only mystery regarding those clubs is which two teams will have to come out of the play-in tournament.
Predicting which two Eastern teams among the remaining seven will participate in the play-in is a much tougher call. The Bulls and Hawks snared the last two spots last season, but there’s reason to believe they’ll wind up in the lottery.
The Bulls dealt away leading scorer DeMar DeRozan and top defender Alex Caruso this offseason and would like to make more moves. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic have been on the trading block for quite a while and they could be wearing different uniforms at some point during the season. The addition of Josh Giddey, joining Coby White in the backcourt, could be enough to get them back to the play-in but that’s certainly no lock.
The Hawks, of course, broke up their high-scoring backcourt by dealing Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. Atlanta did wind up with the top pick in the draft, but Zaccharie Risacher isn’t your typical top overall selection. No one quite knows what the Hawks have in Risacher, who is unlikely to have the sort of first-year impact that Victor Wembanyama or Brandon Miller did a year ago.
The Raptors have a much different roster than in recent years but they should improve on their 25-win total. They have built around Scottie Barnes with a backcourt of former Knicks Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett.
The Hornets could be on the upswing if LaMelo Ball can finally stay healthy for a whole season. They have two high-scoring wings in Miller and Miles Bridges.
The Wizards signed Jonas Valanciunas and have two promising forwards Bilal Coulibaly and No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr. They still seem to be a couple of years away from entering the postseason picture.
The Nets, of course, traded away their top player in Mikal Bridges with their sights set on next offseason, when they’ll have extra first-round picks and plenty of cap space.
Last, but maybe not least anymore, are the Pistons. Coming off the worst season in franchise history, the Pistons used their ample cap room to get Cade Cunningham more help. The additions of Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. should make them more competitive.
That leads us to our topic of the day: Among the Bulls, Hawks, Raptors, Hornets, Wizards, Nets and Pistons, which of those Eastern Conference teams will make the play-in tournament this upcoming season?
Please take to the comments section to address this topic. We look forward to your input.
New York Notes: Randle, Knicks, Martin, Etienne
All-Star Knicks power forward Julius Randle has struggled to stay healthy during New York’s last two playoff appearances, and questions have long lingered about his fit on Tom Thibodeau‘s team.
With All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson now clearly the Knicks’ top offensive option and the team missing center depth, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report pitches an intriguing hypothetical three-team deal involving Randle.
Pincus proposes that the Knicks send Randle and reserve center Jericho Sims to the Hornets and a pair of heavily protected 2025 first-round picks to the Wizards. In Pincus’ suggested deal, the Knicks would acquire floor-spacing combo forward Grant Williams and bouncy center Nick Richards while generating a pair of trade exceptions. Charlotte would also acquire Corey Kispert and Marvin Bagley while Washington would add Josh Green and Cody Martin in Pincus’ hypothetical.
There’s more out of New York:
- The Knicks could still be on the hunt for a reserve center, Ian Begley of SNY.tv writes in a new mailbag. New York previously explored signing Omer Yurtseven and Bruno Fernando, both of whom ended up elsewhere.
- Heading into the 2024/25 season, the Knicks have one final standard roster spot available. Sources tell Begley that it appears unlikely New York will bring back reserve point guard Ryan Arcidiacono for that spot. The Knicks may instead look to see if anyone stands out in training camp enough to warrant becoming the club’s 15th man.
- The Nets‘ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, have traded their 2025 first- and second-round draft picks to the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves‘ NBAGL squad, in exchange for the returning player rights to forward Tyrese Martin. Across 33 contests (28 starts), the 6’6″ wing averaged 17.8 points, 8.0 boards, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals.
- Long Island has been active this week. The Nets‘ NBAGL team also shipped out the returning player rights to forward Kaiser Gates to the Hawks‘ G League team, the College Park Skyhawks, to obtain the returning rights for guard Tyson Etienne. In 51 regular season games with the Skyhawks from 2022-24, Etienne averaged 7.6 points on .444/.356/.722 shooting splits, plus 3.5 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 0.7 steals per night.
Young's Trade Value Isn't All That High
The Hawks have already traded away Dejounte Murray. Is it possible they’d move his backcourt partner? That’s not likely, but he could be looking at a new contract next offseason.
- Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic believes Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic can play into his late 30s, Eurohoops.net relays from a Luka i Kuzma podcast. Rajakovic notes Bogdanovic is in excellent shape. “I think he can play in the NBA for another 6-7 years without any problems. I have a hard time preparing for the matches we will play against him,” Rajokovic said. “He always has a smile on his face, he enjoys playing basketball very much. I am his fan.”
Two 2024 Draft Picks Remain Unsigned
Of the 58 players who were selected in June’s draft, 54 have signed their first NBA contracts since the start of July. As our tracker shows, the breakdown is as follows:
- First-round picks signed using the rookie scale exception: 30
- Second-round picks signed using the second-round pick exception: 13
- Second-round picks signed to two-way contracts: 10
- Second-round picks signed using cap room: 1
Two second-round picks — Juan Nunez (No. 36) and Melvin Ajinca (No. 51) — will continue their professional careers in Europe. Their draft rights are controlled by the Spurs and Mavericks, respectively.
That leaves two players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:
- 43. Atlanta Hawks: Nikola Djurisic, G, Mega Basket
- 52. Golden State Warriors: Quinten Post, F/C, Boston College
The Hawks‘ plans for Djurisic remain unclear. The 20-year-old sustained a left foot fracture during a Summer League game in July; the injury required surgery, with another update on his status slated for November. That means he is expected to miss the beginning of the 2024/25 regular season, which opens in late October.
Atlanta has 15 players signed to guaranteed standard contracts, and all three of the team’s two-way spots are currently filled. It’s possible the Hawks could waive one of their two-way players to create room for Djurisic, but there are other possibilities, both in North America and overseas.
When our Luke Adams wrote about Djurisic last month, he wondered whether the young guard might consider signing a G League contract to rehab and get back into game shape with the College Park Skyhawks (Atlanta’s NBAGL affiliate). Going that route could potentially earn Djurisic a promotion to the NBA roster later in the season, perhaps after Atlanta opens up a spot on its standard roster with a trade or two.
As for Post, Adams believes the most likely outcome is Golden State eventually waiving Pat Spencer, opening a two-way contract spot for the Dutch big man. If the Warriors make a multiplayer trade, a standard deal for the 24-year-old is another possibility, but nothing appears imminent on that front.
Jokic Tops Poll For Best Player; Gilgeous-Alexander Gets Nod For 2024/25 MVP
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the best NBA player right now but he’s not going to win another Most Valuable Player award next season.
That’s the majority opinion of the 18 NBA coaches, scouts and executives that ESPN’s Tim Bontemps polled. All but three of them believe Jokic is the league’s top player.
However, when the subject of next season’s MVP came up, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received seven votes. A handful chose Mavericks guard Luka Doncic with Jokic only receiving two votes.
The Thunder and Celtics are the solid favorites to emerge from their respective conferences and square off in the Finals. Boston received 13 votes to win the East, while Oklahoma City picked up 14 votes to emerge from the West. The Celtics received eight votes to repeat as champions, while the Thunder were chosen by seven members of the group.
There was no love for the top pick in the draft, Zaccharie Risacher.The Hawks big man didn’t receive a single vote for Rookie of the Year. The same goes for the topic of best player from the 2024/25 rookie class in five years. Grizzlies center Zach Edey garnered a panel-best eight votes for ROY, while Rockets guard Reed Sheppard was chosen by eight of them to be the best of the bunch in five years.
Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama got two-thirds of the vote for top overall player in five years.
And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer
Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.
Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.
The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.
The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
- Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
- Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.
Eastern Notes: Council, Celtics, Lillard, ’24/25 Standings
As he prepares for his second NBA season, Sixers swingman Ricky Council has been participating this summer in the private runs held in Los Angeles by Sixers assistant Rico Hines, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Council is working on fine-tuning his game in the hope of earning rotation minutes in Philadelphia in 2024/25.
“This summer has been a whole lot of work, maybe even more than last year,” Council said. “Keeping my shooting touch up, working on different finishing moves, just learning the game, playing against good competition every day. All that’s going to help me in the long run.”
Having spent most of his rookie season in 2023/24 on a two-way contract, Council didn’t see a ton of action at the NBA level, but he impressed in his limited minutes, averaging 5.4 points in 32 outings (9.0 MPG), with a shooting line of .482/.375/.746. He knows that in order to get more playing time in ’24/25, he’ll have to show he can excel in a complementary role.
“We have Paul George. We have Tyrese Maxey and we have Joel Embiid,” Council said. “I don’t expect they’ll need much off the dribble in that nature. So I just need to be able to hit open shots and guard people.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- There’s “zero truth” to rumors that billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is interested in bidding on the Celtics, a source close to Bezos tells Nick Wingfield of The Information. As Kurt Helin of NBC Sports notes, there has been speculation in league circles that Bezos may have interest in being involved in an expansion franchise in Seattle, but it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to gain control of the defending champions, whose majority ownership group put its stake up for sale earlier this summer.
- Appearing on the Club 520 Podcast (YouTube link), Bucks guard Damian Lillard admitted that his first year in Milwaukee last season was a “harder transition” than he expected. In addition to going through a tumultuous period in his personal life at the time, he also found it challenging to adjust to playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton after being traded from Portland to Milwaukee just days before training camp. “I’m having to get used to playing with two (great) players and I don’t want to stop them from doing what they do,” Lillard said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “But I got to find how to be the best version of me within this too, so it was just a lot of moving parts. It was more difficult than I thought it would would be.”
- The Celtics sit atop ESPN’s predictions for the 2024/25 Eastern Conference standings, followed by the Knicks, Sixers, Cavaliers, and Bucks, in that order. The Magic round out ESPN’s projected group of top-six playoff teams, followed by the Pacers, Heat, Hawks, and Bulls in the play-in group. For what it’s worth, ESPN’s panel sees a big disparity between the the top two and bottom two play-in teams, projecting 46 wins for Indiana and 45 for Miami, compared to 31 for Atlanta and 30 for Chicago.