Raptors Sign Sandro Mamukelashvili
July 3: The Raptors have officially signed Mamukelashvili, per NBA.com’s transaction log. Since non-minimum contracts can’t be signed during the July moratorium, we now have confirmation that the big man will be on a minimum deal.
July 1: The Raptors have made a deal to fortify their frontcourt, agreeing to terms with free agent forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili on a two-year contract worth $5.5MM, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The deal will include a second-year player option, Charania adds. It will likely be a minimum-salary contract that’s being rounded up from about $5.26MM.
Mamukelashvili, 26, has spent the past two-and-a-half seasons in San Antonio after a stint with the Bucks earlier in his NBA career. He has been productive with the Spurs but has played limited minutes, including in 2024/25, when he made 61 appearances but averaged just 11.2 minutes per night. He put up 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in that role off the bench.
Mamukelashvili’s most memorable night came on March 19 when he went off for 34 points and nine rebounds in just 19 minutes of action against New York. He made 13-of-14 shots from the floor, including all seven of his three-pointers.
The Raptors had been in the market for a frontcourt addition with Chris Boucher in free agency. Mamukelashvili figures to vie for minutes behind starting center Jakob Poeltl.
Agent: Being Waived Is ‘Incredible Opportunity’ For Lillard
The Bucks‘ surprising decision to waive Damian Lillard with two guaranteed years left on his contract is being met with significant enthusiasm by at least one involved party: Lillard himself.
League sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that Lillard, who will spend the 2025/26 season recovering from an Achilles tear, is “elated” with the move, since it will give him the opportunity to join a team of his choosing while still being paid the $112MM+ he was owed by the Bucks.
Amick refers to it as a “dream scenario” for the star point guard, who struggled at times with the on-court fit in Milwaukee and found it challenging to be away from his children after spending the first 11 years of his playing career in Portland.
As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian relays (via Twitter), Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin put out a statement essentially confirming Amick’s report.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for Damian,” Goodwin said. “He receives all of his money guaranteed, and it provides him an opportunity to decide his next destination as an unrestricted free agent. He gets a chance to rehab at home if he chooses to, and be with his family and his kids for the next year. The goal is for him to take his time and make a decision on what his next destination will be.”
As we relayed earlier, Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team.
According to Amick, the 34-year-old has already received calls from contending teams since word broke that he was being waived by Milwaukee.
Free Agent Rumors: Ayton, Westbrook, Horford, Heat, Beasley
Exploring the Trail Blazers‘ decision to buy out Deandre Ayton so early in the offseason, Jason Quick of The Athletic cites sources who say that Ayton’s attitude was a factor in Portland’s willingness to move on.
As Quick details, the former No. 1 overall pick was reportedly late to team flights and practices, skipped injury rehab appointments, and threw “tantrums” in the locker room when he was benched for poor effort. He also had little self-awareness about his role, says Quick, having envisioned himself as the team’s “cornerstone” when he joined the Blazers ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Teams with interest in the veteran center will have to weigh whether or not Ayton’s baggage is worth his talent after Phoenix and Portland both eventually determined it wasn’t, Quick writes.
Here are a few more free agency notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- Although they’ve reached a deal to sign Dennis Schröder to their backcourt, the Kings still have interest in signing free agent point guard Russell Westbrook too, league sources tell NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link).
- Stein also notes (via Twitter) that Al Horford continues to be a top target for the Warriors, as reported on Monday. One source who spoke to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe suggested Golden State is the frontrunner for Horford, though several other teams remain in the mix. The Warriors are in the market for frontcourt help following the departure of Kevon Looney to New Orleans.
- While Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga would “love” for the Heat to pursue him, they haven’t done so to this point, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Miami also hasn’t been seeking a trade for Kings forward DeMar DeRozan, Jackson adds.
- Malik Beasley‘s offseason has been a nightmare so far. In addition to being the subject of an investigation related to gambling allegations, the free agent wing is facing a lawsuit from his former marketing agency, Hazan Sports Management Group, which is seeking $2.25MM in damages and legal fees for breach of contract. David Purdum of ESPN, who has the full details on the suit, says Hazan Sports alleges Beasley was dealing with “financial issues” when it took him on as a client in 2023.
Giannis ‘Not Pleased’ With Bucks’ Decision To Waive Lillard?
Superstar Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is “not pleased” with the team’s decision to waive Damian Lillard, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
In a shocking pair of moves, the Bucks will waive Lillard and stretch the $112MM+ remaining on his contract after the star point guard suffered an Achilles tear in April, and will sign standout free agent center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107MM deal using the newly created cap room.
The Bucks’ aggressive approach to the offseason was certainly fueled by a desire to stay in contention in the short term and take advantage of Antetokounmpo’s prime years, with Lillard likely to miss most or all of 2025/26. So if Giannis isn’t happy about any of their moves, that’s problematic.
Still, it’s worth noting that ESPN’s Shams Charania has indicated Antetokounmpo was on board with the acquisition of Turner. Within his story on the Bucks’ moves, Charania writes that Antetokounmpo and Turner “both valued the opportunity to partner on the court.”
During an appearance on NBA TV (Twitter video link), Haynes suggested that Antetokounmpo may simply be reacting to the coldness of waiving Lillard – an accomplished and respected veteran star – shortly after he suffered such a major injury.
“He just didn’t like how it was handled,” Haynes said.
For what it’s worth, Lillard might view the situation as a win-win, Marc J. Spears of Andscape tweets, since adjusting to Milwaukee away from his family after spending the first 11 years of his NBA career in Portland had been a challenge for him. Now, he’ll still be paid in full by the Bucks while getting to become an unrestricted free agent, which will give him the ability to pick his own situation.
Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat are among the teams expected to have interest, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), though Jackson says the Oakland native will be “open to considering everything presented.”
As for Antetokounmpo, we’ll see whether he comes around on viewing the Lillard release as a necessary evil to land a player like Turner or whether the situation escalates from here. During his NBA TV spot, Haynes referred to it as “one more thing added to the equation” for Giannis as he considers whether he wants his future to be in Milwaukee or elsewhere.
Bucks Sign Gary Harris To Two-Year Deal
July 8: The Bucks’ deal with Harris is official, the team announced in a press release.
“We are excited to welcome Gary to Milwaukee,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “Gary’s leadership and experience will provide further depth and stability to our backcourt, and his extensive playoff background will be instrumental during the postseason. We are thrilled for Gary to be a Buck.”
July 1: After making a pair of huge moves earlier on Tuesday morning, the Bucks have resumed filling out the edges of their roster. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), the team has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with free agent swingman Gary Harris.
While Charania doesn’t specify the financial details, it will likely be a minimum-salary contract for Harris. It will also include a second-year player option, Charania notes.
Harris, 30, saw his playing time decline in recent years in Orlando. He averaged just 14.8 minutes per game in 48 appearances in 2024/25, with averages of 3.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per night.
However, Harris has a long history of playing rotation minutes for both the Nuggets (2014-21) and Magic (2021-25) as a three-and-D wing. He has attempted 4.0 three-pointers per game over the course of his 11-year career and has knocked down 36.9% of them, including 38.8% since he arrived in Orlando as part of the Aaron Gordon trade in 2021. The veteran also earned praise from his Magic teammates this season for his play on defense, even in his limited role.
It has been a busy week so far for the Bucks. In addition to agreeing to terms to Harris, they’ve also struck deals to re-sign Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, and Gary Trent Jr. while unexpectedly landing a four-year commitment from Myles Turner and even more unexpectedly deciding to waive Damian Lillard and stretch his remaining salary to create short-term cap flexibility.
Bucks To Waive Damian Lillard, Stretch Remaining Salary
The Bucks are waiving injured point guard Damian Lillard and stretching the $112.6MM owed to him over the next two years across five seasons, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
The move will help create the cap room necessary in order for the Bucks to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with free agent center Myles Turner.
It’s a shocking development, but Milwaukee was expected to aggressive this offseason in its efforts to upgrade the roster and convince superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo that he can still contend for a championship with the Bucks. And Lillard, who sustained a torn Achilles during the first round of the playoffs this spring, wasn’t going to be able to contribute to a title chase in 2025/26, as he’ll almost certainly miss most or all of the season.
As we explain in our glossary entry, the stretch provision allows teams to spread out a player’s remaining guaranteed salary across twice the remaining years left on his contract, plus one. That means the Bucks will now carry cap hits of $22,516,603 for the next five seasons for Lillard, instead of paying him $54,126,450 in 2025/26 and $58,456,566 in ’26/27.
The move creates more than $30MM in extra spending flexibility for Milwaukee this season.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), teams aren’t permitted to waive and stretch a player if the move would result in waived-and-stretched salary taking up more than 15% of a season’s cap. But 15% of this season’s cap works out to about $23.2MM, so Lillard’s figure sneaks in below that threshold.
This is the largest waive-and-stretch in NBA history, Marks adds (via Twitter).
A team that waives a player and stretches his salary isn’t permitted to sign him until after the original end date of his contract, so the Bucks wouldn’t be able to bring back Lillard this season or next season once he’s healthy.
Lillard, who will turn 35 this month, averaged 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game in 58 starts for the Bucks this season, posting a shooting line of .448/.376/.921. He missed time near the end of the season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his calf. Although the star guard was able to return during the playoffs, he suited up in just three games before tearing his Achilles.
Knicks Sign Guerschon Yabusele To Two-Year Deal
July 6: Yabusele’s deal with the Knicks is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
As we previously relayed, Yabusele is expected to take a little less than the full taxpayer mid-level exception in order to create some extra breathing room below the Knicks’ hard cap.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), Yabusele’s deal will be worth $5.5MM in year one and $5.775MM in year two.
July 1: The Knicks are in agreement on a two-year, $12MM deal with free agent forward/center Guerschon Yabusele, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the new contract will include a second-year player option.
Based on their cap situation, the Knicks appear set to use their full taxpayer mid-level exception on Yabusele. That would work out to approximately $11.7MM over two seasons.
So far, Yabusele’s second stint in the NBA has gone much better than his first one. The Frenchman struggled to carve out rotation minutes when he became a Celtic at age 22 in 2017 after being drafted 16th overall a year earlier.
However, he was a revelation on a minimum-salary contract with the Sixers in 2024/25, averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game, with a .501/.380/.725 shooting line.
Yabusele has the size to match up with big men in the post and the athleticism to switch onto perimeter players, making him a valuable member of any frontcourt rotation. He’ll give the Knicks another option up front to supplement Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, likely sliding into the spot previously held by Precious Achiuwa, who is currently a free agent.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), the Nuggets were New York’s top competition for Yabusele, with San Antonio and Milwaukee among the other clubs who expressed interest. The 29-year-old was the No. 22 free agent on our top-50 list.
Now that they’ve committed their taxpayer mid-level exception to Yabusele, the Knicks will be limited to minimum-salary signings (or trades) to fill out their roster.
Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Complete Four-Year Super-Max Extension
July 8: Gilgeous-Alexander’s lucrative new four-year mega-deal is now official, the Thunder confirmed in a press release.
July 1: The Thunder and reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have agreed to a four-year, super-max contract extension, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The contract will begin in 2027/28, adding four years to the two left on Gilgeous-Alexander’s current deal and locking him up through at least the ’29/30 season, with a player option for ’30/31, per Charania (Twitter video link).
While Charania refers to it as a $285MM payday for the Thunder star, the exact value of the contract will depend on where the 2027/28 salary cap ends up — Gilgeous-Alexander’s super-max extension will start at 35% of that season’s cap, with 8% annual increases from there. Charania’s projection assumes a 7% cap increase for next year, as projected by the NBA on Monday, followed by a 10% increase in 2027.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who will turn 27 later this month, is coming off one of the most successful seasons in NBA history. He racked up 32.7 points per game on a shooting line of .519/.375/.898 while also contributing 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 block per contest.
He followed up that regular season performance this spring by averaging 29.9 PPG during the postseason and leading the Thunder to their first title in Oklahoma City.
Those performances earned Gilgeous-Alexander MVP honors in both the regular season and the NBA Finals, making him the 16th player in league history to win both awards in the same year. It hadn’t happened since LeBron James pulled off the feat during the 2012/13 season.
Gilgeous-Alexander actually met the performance criteria for a super-max contract (also known as a “designated veteran” deal) in 2024 by making an All-NBA team for a second straight season, but wasn’t permitted to sign his extension until this summer because he hadn’t yet met the service-time criteria.
A player with between seven and nine years of experience typically has a maximum salary of 30% of the cap, but can qualify for 35% by being named MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA in the most recent season or in two of the previous three seasons.
Gilgeous-Alexander had the option of waiting another year to sign his super-max extension — at that time, he could’ve added a fifth year, increasing the total projected value to nearly $370MM. However, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he opted not to leave this sort of payday on the table for another year.
The Thunder will now shift their focus to two other key extension candidates, as both Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are eligible this offseason for rookie scale extensions as they prepare to enter their fourth year in the NBA.
Nuggets To Hire J.J. Barea As Assistant Coach
The Nuggets are adding former NBA guard J.J. Barea to their coaching staff as an assistant under new head coach David Adelman, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Barea will be a front-of-bench assistant in Denver, Charania adds.
Marc Stein first reported the Nuggets’ interest in Barea, who had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico over the past couple years before being let go in May.
Barea, who turned 41 last week, played in the NBA from 2005-19, spending the majority of those 14 years in Dallas and winning a title with the Mavericks in 2011. Following his retirement, he spent a year as a player development coach for the Mavs in 2021/22.
As Tim MacMahon of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Adelman was an assistant coach in Minnesota when Barea played for the Timberwolves during the only non-Mavs stint of his career from 2011-14. Adelman reached out to Barea to recruit him for the role, MacMahon reports.
The Nuggets have also reached an agreement to hire Rodney Billups, the younger brother of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, as an assistant, agent Andy Miller tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Rodney worked on his brother’s staff in Portland from 2022-24 before spending this past season as a Nets scout.
Denver is also said to have interest in Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley for a role on Adelman’s staff. While the Nuggets were granted permission to speak to Dudley, there has been no word yet on whether or not he’ll leave Dallas for Denver.
Lakers Rumors: DFS, Ayton, LeBron, Wiggins, LaRavia
After Dorian Finney-Smith turned down his $15.4MM player option for the 2025/26 season, the Lakers offered him a new contract, but it only covered two seasons, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. The veteran forward instead agreed to a four-year, $53MM deal with Houston.
As Woike explains, the Lakers want to maintain as much future cap flexibility as they can in order to be able to pursue a star-level player to pair with Luka Doncic following LeBron James‘ eventual retirement.
That point has also been made by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who writes that the Lakers want to preserve 2027 cap room in the hopes of landing a maximum-salary player, and by Shams Charania, who discussed the subject on SportsCenter late on Monday night (Twitter video link).
“They are really prioritizing two-year contracts right now,” Charania said. “They want to have max-salary space in 2027.”
How that stance affects the Lakers’ search for a center remains to be seen. While Brook Lopez committed to the Clippers on Monday and Clint Capela agreed to a deal with Houston, it’s Deandre Ayton who has been the team’s top priority, according to Woike, who points out that Ayton and Doncic share the same agent (Bill Duffy).
It sounds like the Lakers are unlikely to offer more than two years to Ayton, so if there’s a rival suitor willing to put a longer deal on the table, that could be problematic for Los Angeles. However, I’d be a little surprised if that’s the case after his time in Portland ended via buyout.
Woike points to the Bucks as one team to watch for Ayton, noting that they should have access to most of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and lost their starting center (Lopez) on Monday.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- ESPN’s Dave McMenamin spoke on NBA Today on Monday about where things stand with James following agent Rich Paul‘s Saturday statement about evaluating “what’s best for LeBron” as the star forward opted into the final year of his contract. “(Paul) has not had any discussion with the Lakers about wanting a trade, on the back end of this statement,” McMenamin said (YouTube link). “He did say that four teams have contacted him in the last 24 hours wanting to take trades, but Rich didn’t have any substantive conversations with those teams either. Right now, LeBron is focused on playing on a championship-caliber roster. Rich told me there’s no guarantees in building a championship-caliber roster, but we know what it looks like and what it doesn’t look like. And we’ll see if in a week from now – when Rob Pelinka‘s finished doing his work with this roster – if it looks like a winning, realistic situation.”
- According to Jovan Buha (Twitter video link), the rumored trade talks between the Lakers and Heat about Andrew Wiggins haven’t gained any real momentum due to a “pretty high” asking price on Miami’s end. “We’re talking basically everything or close to everything that the Lakers could offer from a top-end asset standpoint,” Buha said. “So I don’t think that is going to happen. I don’t think the Lakers are trading Rui (Hachimura), a first, and Dalton (Knecht) for Andrew Wiggins. That’s not fair value. That’s not a realistic trade. I think Miami’s playing hardball. We’ll see if they soften their stance.”
- League sources tell Woike that Jake LaRavia, who agreed to a two-year, $12MM deal with the Lakers on Monday, was the team’s first call when free agency opened, and that the free agent forward was impressed by the way Pelinka sold the Lakers’ strength and JJ Redick‘s “detailed” plan for how he would be used. One executive who spoke to Woike about the move lauded LaRavia for his toughness, shooting, and burgeoning play-making skills, while another said, “Everyone can use a player like him.”