Teams Limited To Minimum Salary Contract Offers
There won’t be a ton of free agents who sign for more than the veteran’s minimum between now and the end of the NBA’s regular season. The majority of the players whose markets exceeded the minimum came off the board pretty quickly in July, and teams aren’t looking to spend big on the players who are still available.
Still, that certainly doesn’t mean every signing for the next seven months will be of the minimum-salary variety. In some cases – especially on the buyout market in February – being able to offer a couple million dollars more than the minimum could be the difference between a team landing a free agent and missing out on him.
With that in mind, it’s worth checking in on which teams don’t currently have the ability to offer more than the minimum. By our count, a third of the NBA is in this boat, though some of those clubs could generate some spending flexibility by making cost-cutting trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the teams currently limited to minimum-salary contract offers for free agents:
Teams above the second tax apron:
- Boston Celtics
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Phoenix Suns
Teams operating above the second tax apron, which comes in at $188,931,000 in 2024/25, face a series of roster-building restrictions, including being prohibited from using any form of the mid-level exception, as well as the bi-annual exception.
The Celtics, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Suns all fall into that group of teams above the second apron and therefore don’t have any cap exceptions available to use on free agents besides the minimum salary exception.
Teams very close to the second tax apron:
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Miami Heat
Because their team salaries are below the second apron, the Lakers and Heat each technically have the ability to use their taxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth $5,168,000 this season.
However, both clubs are operating so close to the second apron that using any portion of the taxpayer MLE would push team salary above that threshold, which isn’t permitted — a team that uses the taxpayer MLE can’t have a salary above the second apron upon the completion of the signing (or at any time after that).
Therefore, unless they make a move to shed salary, the Lakers and Heat will be limited to minimum-salary signings from here on out.
Over-the-cap teams that have used all their cap exceptions:
- Denver Nuggets
- Philadelphia 76ers
The Nuggets are currently operating between the first and second tax aprons and have already used their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Dario Saric. Because the bi-annual exception isn’t available to teams above the first apron, Denver can no longer offer more than the veteran’s minimum.
The Sixers, meanwhile, used their entire room exception to re-sign Kelly Oubre after spending all their cap space. They’re now well over the cap and only have the minimum salary exception left to sign a free agent outright.
It’s worth noting that acquiring a player via sign-and-trade is technically a possibility prior to opening night for teams who have used up all their cap exceptions and want to add a free agent for more than the minimum. However, that’s not currently a practical option for either Denver or Philadelphia, who are both above the first tax apron.
Teams right up against their hard caps:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Golden State Warriors
The Mavericks have about $4.25MM of their mid-level exception still available after using a portion of it to sign Naji Marshall, and both Dallas and Golden State still have their full bi-annual exceptions on hand.
Based on the roster moves they’ve made so far this summer though, both the Mavs and Warriors are hard-capped at the first apron of $178,132,000 and are less than $1MM away from that hard cap. In other words, unless they shed salary by trading or waiving one or more of their current players, those two teams aren’t just prohibited from using their remaining exceptions — they’re also unable to add another minimum-salary player on a standard contract.
Dallas and Golden State are each carrying at least one player with a non-guaranteed salary, so it would technically be possible for, say, the Mavs to cut A.J. Lawson and then use a portion of their mid-level exception to sign a free agent. However, their breathing room below the hard cap is so limited that any signings above the minimum are unlikely, unless a cost-cutting trade generates more flexibility — the same goes for the Warriors.
Saben Lee Signs With Turkish Team
Free agent guard Saben Lee has officially signed with Turkish team Manisa Basket (Instagram link). The move had long been anticipated, with Tolis Kotzias of SDNA.gr (Twitter link) reporting in early August that Lee was close to finalizing a deal with the club.
The 38th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Lee has spent the past four seasons playing for the Pistons, Sixers, and Suns. The 6’2″ guard finished the most recent season on a two-way contract with Phoenix and appeared in 24 NBA games for the Suns.
Across his four seasons in the NBA, Lee appeared in 134 total regular season games, averaging 5.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per contest. An unreliable jump shot hindered his ability to earn regular rotation minutes, as he posted a career shooting line of just .421/.271/.734.
Lee’s four years of NBA service meant he was no longer eligible for a two-way deal in 2024/25, which may have been a factor in his inability to find a roster spot stateside.
Lee is joining a Manisa club that will be competing in the Basketball Champions League – in addition to Turkey’s Basketball Super League – for the first time next season. Manisa Basket posted a 16-14 mark in domestic play last season, finishing sixth out of 16 Turkish teams. The club was eliminated in the first round of the postseason by Besiktas.
Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team
On Friday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2024/25 season. Although that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the current season, not every NBA team was represented. Four of the league’s 30 franchises – the Pistons, Magic, Spurs, and Wizards – didn’t have a single player in the top 50.
Our list of highest-paid players for 2024/25 also only provided a snapshot for this year. For example, Ben Simmons, who cracked the top 25, will certainly be well compensated for the coming season, but he’s on an expiring contract and will fall off that list next year after reaching free agency.
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 current season (by 2024/25 base salary) and its highest-paid player in total (by total base salary, including player options but not team options).
Let’s dive in…
Atlanta Hawks
- 2024/25: Trae Young ($43,031,940)
- Total: Trae Young (three years, $137,998,980)
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
Boston Celtics
- 2024/25: Jaylen Brown ($49,205,800)
- Total: Jayson Tatum (six years, $348,781,750)
- Note: The projected value of Tatum’s super-max extension is based on a $154,647,000 salary cap for 2025/26; Tatum’s final year is a player option.
- Note: The projected value of Tatum’s super-max extension is based on a $154,647,000 salary cap for 2025/26; Tatum’s final year is a player option.
Brooklyn Nets
- 2024/25: Ben Simmons ($40,338,144)
- Total: Nic Claxton (four years, $97,000,000)
- Note: Claxton could earn another $3MM in incentives.
- Note: Claxton could earn another $3MM in incentives.
Charlotte Hornets
- 2024/25: LaMelo Ball ($35,147,000)
- Total: LaMelo Ball (five years, $203,852,600)
Chicago Bulls
- 2024/25: Zach LaVine ($43,031,940)
- Total: Zach LaVine (three years, $137,998,980)
- Note: LaVine’s final year is a player option.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2024/25: Darius Garland ($36,725,670)
- Total: Evan Mobley (six years, $235,465,807)
- Note: The projected value of Mobley’s maximum-salary extension is based on a $154,647,000 salary cap for 2025/26. His projected six-year earnings could increase to as much as $280,313,437 if he meets certain Rose Rule performance criteria.
Dallas Mavericks
- 2024/25: Luka Doncic ($43,031,940)
- Total: Luka Doncic (three years, $137,998,980)
- Note: Doncic’s final year is a player option.
Denver Nuggets
- 2024/25: Nikola Jokic ($51,415,938)
- Total: Nikola Jokic (four years, $228,515,280)
- Note: Jokic’s final year is a player option.
- Note: Jokic’s final year is a player option.
Detroit Pistons
- 2024/25: Tobias Harris ($25,365,854)
- Total: Cade Cunningham (six years, $238,178,959)
- Note: The projected value of Cunningham’s maximum-salary extension is based on a $154,647,000 salary cap for 2025/26. His projected six-year earnings could increase to as much as $283,026,589 if he meets certain Rose Rule performance criteria.
Golden State Warriors
- 2024/25: Stephen Curry ($55,761,216)
- Total: Stephen Curry (three years, $177,955,191)
2024/25: 
2024/25: Hoops Rumors’ Lists, Trackers, Features
In addition to passing along news, rumors, and analysis on a daily basis, Hoops Rumors provides a number of additional features and resources that can be found anytime on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu.
Since those links are easy to overlook and aren’t readily accessible to our app users, we want to periodically highlight a number of our lists, trackers, and other features.
For instance, our lists of current free agents by position/type and by team are constantly updated, as are our lists of 2025 free agents by position/type and by team and our list of 2026 free agents.
We have a number of features related to NBA trades, including a roundup of this offseason’s deals, a recap of the trade exceptions currently available to teams, lists of the players who can’t be traded until December 15 or January 15, and details on which players can veto trades in 2024/25 and which players have trade kickers.
We have info on how teams are using mid-level and bi-annual exceptions in 2024/25, as well as which clubs are hard-capped and which have open roster spots. Our free agent tracker, two-way contract tracker and contract extension tracker provide information on most of the deals signed this summer, while our list of non-guaranteed contracts by team helps provide a more complete picture of each team’s roster.
We’ve got details on how much this season’s maximum salaries, minimum salaries, and mid-level/bi-annual exceptions are worth, as well as more details on the key cap figures for the 2024/25 season. We’ve also shared early projections for maximum salaries, minimum salaries, and mid-level/bi-annual figures for 2025/26.
The Hoops Rumors Glossary provides in-depth explanations on many concepts related to the salary cap and Collective Bargaining Agreement, presented in the simplest possible terms. We’ve updated the majority of our entries to reflect the changes made in the most recent CBA.
Finally, we’re in the process of breaking down all 30 teams’ summer moves in our Offseason Check-In series.
Many of our features and trackers are cyclical and will be reintroduced as the year goes on. For example, during draft season next spring, we’ll be keeping tabs on all the early entrants for the 2025 NBA draft.
Be sure to check out the sidebar on our desktop site or our Features page for all of our current resources.
NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Milwaukee Bucks
Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Free agent signings
Taurean Prince: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.- Gary Trent Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Delon Wright: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
- James Akinjo: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Liam Robbins: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trades
- None
Draft picks
- 1-23: AJ Johnson
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $14,616,287).
- 2-33: Tyler Smith
- Signed to four-year, minimum-salary contract ($7,895,796). First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year non-guaranteed team option.
Two-way signings
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo (unsigned)
- Malik Beasley (Pistons)
- Patrick Beverley (Hapoel Tel Aviv)
- Jae Crowder (unsigned)
- Danilo Gallinari (unsigned)
- TyTy Washington (Suns)
Other moves
- Waived Jaylin Galloway (two-way).
Salary cap situation
- Operating over the cap ($140.6MM), over the luxury tax line ($170.8MM), and above the second tax apron ($188.9MM).
- Carrying approximately $191.9MM in salary.
- No hard cap.
- No form of mid-level or bi-annual exception available.
- Two traded player exceptions frozen/unavailable (both worth $2,019,706).
The offseason so far
While the Bucks’ season ended with a disappointing first-round playoff exit for a second straight year in 2024, their ability to meaningfully upgrade their roster this offseason was restricted by their proximity to the second tax apron, which hindered their ability to aggregate salaries in trades or to sign free agents to more than the veteran’s minimum.
Milwaukee could have shaken up its roster by trading one of its six highest-paid players – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, or Pat Connaughton – and reportedly at least considered the idea of moving Lopez. But that was never a practical path to upgrading the roster, since those players are generally more valuable to the Bucks on their current contracts and in their current roles than they would be as trade chips.
Instead, the Bucks added talent this summer via the draft and by shopping in the minimum-salary aisle in free agency. Faced with the departures of veterans like Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, and Jae Crowder, Milwaukee arguably upgraded each of those spots by signing Gary Trent Jr., Delon Wright, and Taurean Prince.
Like Beasley, Trent is a high-volume three-point shooter who doesn’t provide much in the way of play-making or defense. But Trent has a more well-rounded offensive game and more defensive upside than Beasley, having shown the ability to generate turnovers during his time in Toronto.
Beverley certainly talks a bigger game than Wright, but his fiery playing style isn’t always a plus, as he showed when he earned himself a suspension by firing a basketball at fans in Indiana during the last game of the Bucks’ season this spring. There’s little risk of that sort of temper tantrum from Wright, a consummate pro whose length and versatility on defense has long made him an underrated asset.
Crowder, meanwhile, isn’t the three-and-D dynamo he once was, and contributed next to nothing during his two playoff runs with the Bucks, making 6-of-25 shots (24.0%), including 1-of-13 three-pointers (7.7%), as the team was outscored by 43 points during his 83 playoff minutes. It’s no surprise he wasn’t re-signed. His replacement, Prince, was probably asked to do too much as a frequent starter for the Lakers last season, but as a reserve on a minimum-salary contract, the 37.6% career three-point shooter looks like a bargain.
Although the Bucks did a great job in free agency adding rotation-caliber veterans on team-friendly deals, their approach to the draft drew mixed reviews. They used the 23rd and 33rd overall picks, respectively, to select a pair of 19-year-olds, AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith. Both players will be developmental projects for the coaching staff, with neither one considered ready to earn regular minutes at the NBA level as rookies.
That’s a defensible strategy in a vacuum, but it’s a somewhat questionable approach for a team that’s looking to capitalize on a championship window and is already carrying several little-used young players on its roster (MarJon Beauchamp, A.J. Green, Andre Jackson, and Chris Livingston each averaged fewer than 13 minutes per game last season).
It may not be fair to expect the Bucks’ front office to draft this year’s Jaime Jaquez or Brandin Podziemski, but there were players in that 23-33 range who will have a better chance of contributing right away. Presumably, the club is counting on some of those returning prospects – starting with Beauchamp – to take a step forward, reducing the need for Johnson and Smith to play much until year two or three.
Financial considerations may also have factored into Milwaukee’s draft decisions — Johnson is one of the only first-round picks in recent years to accept a salary worth less than 120% of his rookie scale amount, while Smith was the lone draft pick in the top 37 who agreed to a minimum salary for 2024/25. It’s a safe bet the Bucks knew prior to drafting them that Johnson and Smith would sign those contracts, which will save ownership some tax dollars.
Up next
I’d be surprised if the Bucks make any major trades prior to opening night, but there are several contract situations to watch on this roster. Lopez is on an expiring deal, while Middleton, Portis, and Connaughton all have the ability to join him in unrestricted free agency next summer by turning down 2025/26 player options.
Lopez and Middleton won’t be extension-eligible in 2024/25, but Portis and Connaughton can both sign new deals anytime between now and June 30, 2025. They’re two of the Bucks’ best potential in-season trade chips, so it will be interesting to see whether the team decides to hold off on extensions, since signing them could make the duo ineligible to be dealt this season, depending on the terms.
Barring trades, the Bucks shouldn’t have any challenging roster decisions to make this fall. A two-way shake-up is a possibility – Stanley Umude, Anzejs Pasecniks, and Ryan Rollins occupy those spots for now – but Milwaukee’s standard roster looks pretty set, with 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries and Jackson on a partially guaranteed deal.
If the club isn’t encouraged by the progress Jackson is making, perhaps he’ll be waived to open up that 15th roster spot down the road, but there’s no point in doing it before opening night. His $946K partial guarantee ensures the Bucks will essentially get a free look at him during the first half, since that cap hit would be the same whether he’s waived on October 20 or January 7.
NBA’s Top 50 Highest-Paid Players For 2024/25
Many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, but the 2024/25 salaries for those players vary significantly depending on when the player signed his contract and how much NBA experience he has. That’s why a player like Stephen Curry will earn nearly $22MM more than Deandre Ayton in ’24/25 despite both players technically being on max deals.
When a player signs a maximum-salary contract, he doesn’t necessarily earn the NBA max for each season of that contract — he earns the max in year one, then gets a series of identical annual raises. In Curry’s case, his 2024/25 salary actually exceeds this year’s maximum, since the annual cap increases since he began earning the max haven’t kept pace with his annual 8% raises.
Listed below, with some help from Spotrac‘s salary data, are the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2024/25 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. This top 50 only considers the current league year, with the player’s ’24/25 base salary listed.
Additionally, we’ve noted players who could potentially increase their earnings via incentives or trade bonuses. We didn’t add those notes for players like Curry or Jaylen Brown, who have trade bonuses but are already earning the maximum — their salaries for this season can’t increase beyond their max.
Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2024/25 season:
- Stephen Curry, Warriors: $55,761,216
- Joel Embiid, Sixers: $51,415,938
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $51,415,938 - Bradley Beal, Suns: $50,203,930
- Kevin Durant, Suns: $49,856,021
- Durant can earn another $1,323,000 in likely incentives.
- Devin Booker, Suns: $49,205,800
Jaylen Brown, Celtics: $49,205,800
Paul George, Sixers: $49,205,800
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $49,205,800
Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves: $49,205,800 - Jimmy Butler, Heat: $48,798,677 (15% trade kicker)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $48,787,676 (15% trade kicker)
Damian Lillard, Bucks: $48,787,676 - LeBron James, Lakers: $48,728,845 (15% trade kicker)
- Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves: $43,827,586
- Anthony Davis, Lakers: $43,219,440 (15% trade kicker)
- Zach LaVine, Bulls: $43,031,940 (15% trade kicker)
Luka Doncic, Mavericks: $43,031,940
Trae Young, Hawks: $43,031,940 - Fred VanVleet, Rockets: $42,846,615
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves: $42,176,400
Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers: $42,176,400
Lauri Markkanen, Jazz: $42,176,400
Pascal Siakam, Pacers: $42,176,400 - Ben Simmons, Nets: $40,338,144
- Kyrie Irving, Mavericks: $40,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
- Irving can earn another $1,000,000 in likely incentives and $1,000,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Domantas Sabonis, Kings: $39,200,000
- Sabonis can earn another $1,300,000 in likely incentives and $1,300,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Darius Garland, Cavaliers: $36,725,670
Ja Morant, Grizzlies: $36,725,670
Zion Williamson, Pelicans: $36,725,670 - OG Anunoby, Knicks: $36,637,932 (15% trade kicker)
- Brandon Ingram, Pelicans: $36,016,200 (15% trade kicker)
Jamal Murray, Nuggets: $36,016,200 - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: $35,859,950
Michael Porter Jr., Nuggets: $35,859,950 - Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers: $35,410,310
- LaMelo Ball, Hornets: $35,147,000
Tyrese Maxey, Sixers: $35,147,000 - Jayson Tatum, Celtics: $34,848,340 (15% trade kicker)
Bam Adebayo, Heat: $34,848,340
De’Aaron Fox, Kings: $34,848,340 - Desmond Bane, Grizzlies: $34,005,250 (15% trade kicker)
- Bane can earn another $1,141,750 in unlikely incentives.
- Deandre Ayton, Trail Blazers: $34,005,126
- James Harden, Clippers: $33,653,846 (15% trade kicker)
- CJ McCollum, Pelicans: $33,333,333
- Immanuel Quickley, Raptors: $32,500,000
- Quickley can earn another $2,500,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Khris Middleton, Bucks: $31,000,000
- Middleton can earn another $666,667 in likely incentives and $2,333,334 in unlikely incentives.
- Isaiah Hartenstein, Thunder: $30,000,000
Jrue Holiday, Celtics: $30,000,000 - Jerami Grant, Trail Blazers: $29,793,104
The cutoff point for this year’s top-50 list very nearly reached $30MM for the first time in NBA history. And it’s actually possible that cutoff will exceed $30MM by the time the season concludes.
A handful of players who just missed the top 50 have the ability to earn more than Grant’s $29.8MM base salary if they achieve certain performance incentives during the coming season.
Here are the players who could break into the top 50 by season’s end:
- Jordan Poole, Wizards: $29,651,786
- Poole can earn another $3,750,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Devin Vassell, Spurs: $29,347,826
- Vassell can earn another $2,391,303 in unlikely incentives.
- Tyler Herro, Heat: $29,000,000
- Herro can earn another $2,500,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Julius Randle, Knicks: $27,561,600 (15% trade kicker)
- Randle can earn another $1,378,080 in likely incentives and $1,378,080 in unlikely incentives.
- Dejounte Murray, Pelicans: $24,799,600
- Murray earned an additional $4,017,535 via a trade bonus on top of his base salary; he can also earn another $699,999 in likely incentives and $1,399,998 in unlikely incentives.
And-Ones: 2025 Storylines, Media News, G. Davis
With few major offseason storylines left to resolve in 2024, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) takes an early look at the 2025 landscape, forecasting which stories will dominate NBA headlines next summer.
As Marks details, LeBron James will be one of the top free agents to watch for a second straight offseason, since he holds a 2025/26 player option. However, the rest of the 2025 free agent class isn’t particularly star-studded, with Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram among the top players to keep an eye on.
Barely any teams project to have 2025 cap room at this point, Marks notes, so high-level free agents who want to change teams may require a sign-and-trade. The one team that projects to have significant cap space is Brooklyn, so it could be a big summer for the Nets, who will be in position to be one of the league’s most active teams even if they don’t pursue top free agents.
Cooper Flagg‘s destination, the ongoing impact of the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and a 2025 rookie scale extension class headlined by Paolo Banchero are a few of the other storylines previewed by Marks.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- A pair of notable NBA news-breakers are making career changes ahead of the 2024/25 season, according to reporting from Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post. Shams Charania is leaving Stadium, while Chris Haynes is parting ways with TNT Sports, per Glasspiegel, who says Charania remains under contract with The Athletic and FanDuel TV, though those deals are up soon as well. As Glasspiegel points out, NBC and Amazon Prime Video will likely be seeking NBA reporters and analysts as they prepare to broadcast games beginning in 2025, so it’s possible Charania and/or Haynes could be targeted by one of those new league partners.
- In other NBA media news, Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler, and Jay Bilas are among the top candidates to replace J.J. Redick on the top ABC/ESPN broadcast crew for the NBA Finals, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. It’s possible ABC/ESPN will try a two-person booth of Mike Breen and Doris Burke, but the network would ideally like a three-person broadcast team, Marchand adds.
- Amazon has scrapped its plans to make a $115MM investment in Diamond Sports Group to help lift the company out of bankruptcy, as Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reports. Friend and Evan Drellich of The Athletic explores what that lost investment means for Diamond, which still controls regional sports networks that air games locally for 13 NBA teams.
- A New York judge ruled this week that former NBA forward Glen Davis can wait until October 22 to begin serving his 40-month prison sentence for fraud, Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press. That judge postponed Davis’ deadline to report to prison by seven weeks to allow him to finish a documentary film project about his life.
Evan Fournier Reportedly Considering EuroLeague Offers
Since having his 2024/25 team option turned down by the Pistons and becoming an unrestricted free agent, Evan Fournier has been seeking out potential NBA opportunities. But with no deal having materialized stateside approximately two months later, the French swingman is “seriously considering” the possibility of returning to Europe, reports Michalis Stefanou of Eurohoops.
According to Stefanou, EuroLeague teams based in Spain, Italy, and France have either made a contract offer to Fournier or expressed interest in signing him.
As Stefanou points out, Fournier tweeted back in 2022 that if he were ever to return to the EuroLeague, his top choice would be Olympiacos, but it’s unclear whether the Greek club is among those teams with interest in the veteran wing.
Before being selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2012 draft by the Nuggets, Fournier spent time with JSF Nanterre and Poitiers Basket 86 in France, so the 31-year-old is no stranger to playing overseas. However, he has been in the NBA for the past 12 seasons, appearing in more than 700 total regular season games for Denver, Orlando, Boston, New York, and Detroit.
Fournier was a reliable starter and scorer for several years in his prime, averaging over 15 points per game for six consecutive seasons from 2015-21 and setting a Knicks team record for most three-pointers in a single season in 2021/22 with 241 (Donte DiVincenzo broke that record this past season).
However, he fell out of Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation in New York during the ’22/23 season, and after eventually getting the change of scenery he sought, he struggled to make an impact in Detroit during the second half of the ’23/24 campaign, averaging just 7.2 points in 18.7 minutes per game across 29 outings, with a .373/.270/.794 shooting line.
Marc Stein reported during the second week of July that the Wizards may have interest in Fournier as a potential veteran mentor to young Frenchmen Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly. Nothing came of that though, and there haven’t been any reports since then linking Fournier to any specific NBA teams.
He probably didn’t help his stock much by posting modest numbers (9.8 PPG on 34.0% shooting, including 32.4% on three-pointers) during France’s silver medal run at the Paris Olympics.
Omer Yurtseven Signs With Panathinaikos
Free agent center Omer Yurtseven has signed a contract with Panathinaikos, the Greek club announced today in a press release. The two sides worked out an agreement after Panathinaikos’ interest in Yurtseven was reported several weeks ago, finalizing a two-year deal that includes a second-year option.
Yurtseven, 26, spent the past three seasons in the NBA, appearing in a total of 113 games for the Heat and Jazz during that time and posting averages of 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per contest.
The seven-footer showed promise as a rookie in 2021/22, earning backup center minutes for the Heat for a significant chunk of the season, but was limited to just nine appearances the following year due to an ankle injury. He inked a multiyear contract with the Jazz during the 2023 offseason, but it wasn’t guaranteed for 2024/25, so Utah cut him loose at the start of free agency.
Yurtseven’s deal with Panathinaikos will reunite him with head coach Ergin Ataman, who also coaches the Turkish national team. In a statement passed along by the team, the big man cited Ataman’s presence as a “very important” factor in his decision to join the Greek club.
Panathinaikos is coming off a dominant season in which it went 26-1 in Greek League play and defeated Olympiacos to win the championship. The team also had a 23-11 regular season record in EuroLeague competition and knocked off Maccabi Tel Aviv, Fenerbahce, and Real Madrid in the postseason to win its seventh EuroLeague title.
Bruno Caboclo Signs With Hapoel Tel Aviv
Former NBA first-round pick Bruno Caboclo has signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Israeli club formally announced today (via Twitter). According to a Sport5 report relayed by Sportando, the contract covers two seasons. Previous reporting indicated the second year would be a team option.
Caboclo was said to be working out with the Warriors this week in the hopes of landing an NBA contract. While it’s possible Caboclo’s deal includes an NBA opt-out clause in the event that he receives an offer from Golden State or another team, the fact that he’s officially moving forward with Tel Aviv suggests that no NBA opportunity he likes has materialized.
The 20th overall pick in the 2014 draft, Caboclo spent parts of seven seasons in the NBA, but appeared in just 105 total games for the Raptors, Kings, Grizzlies, and Rockets from 2014-21. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per contest.
Caboclo has been more effective on the international stage, winning a German League (BBL) title in 2023 with Ratiopharm Ulm and earning All-EuroCup Second Team honors that season before spending the 2023/24 campaign with Partizan Belgrade in the EuroLeague. He also represented Brazil in this year’s Olympics, leading the national team with 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game across four outings.
Hapoel Tel Aviv, which is aiming to earn a promotion to the EuroLeague by winning a EuroCup title in 2024/25, also added NBA veterans Patrick Beverley and Ish Wainright earlier this summer.