Spurs Inquired On Young Point Guards Before Signing CP3
Before they signed future Hall of Famer Chris Paul to a one-year contract, the Spurs made several calls to teams around the NBA to inquire about the availability of younger point guards who have yet to enter their prime years, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
Darius Garland of the Cavaliers and Andrew Nembhard of the Pacers were among the players the Spurs called about, Fischer reports. Cleveland has shown no interest in moving Garland and the Pacers presumably weren’t keen on trading Nembhard either — he has agreed to a three-year contract extension with Indiana that will make him ineligible to be dealt for six months.
Fischer also mentions Hawks star Trae Young and Josh Giddey – who was sent from the Thunder to the Bulls last month – as players who had San Antonio among their preferred destinations in the event of a trade. However, Young and Giddey now appear on track to open the 2024/25 season in Atlanta and Chicago, respectively, and Fischer doesn’t specify to what level the Spurs reciprocated either player’s interest.
While Paul will be Victor Wembanyama‘s primary pick-and-roll partner for the 2024/25 season, the Spurs figure to remain on the lookout for a player who can ideally fill that role for the next decade, Fischer writes.
No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle is one candidate — he considers himself a point guard and San Antonio targeted the former UConn star for much of the pre-draft process, sources tell Yahoo Sports. However, as Fischer observes, Castle showed with the Huskies that he can thrive alongside another point guard, so even if they’re bullish on his NBA upside, the Spurs may not be prepared yet to pencil in the 19-year-old as the long-term answer at the position.
In addition to Paul and Castle, the Spurs also still have Tre Jones in the point guard mix. Jones is in the final year of his current contract and will reach unrestricted free agency next summer.
Hawks’ Djurisic Undergoes Foot Surgery; Update Expected In November
Hawks second-round pick Nikola Djurisic underwent foot surgery on Monday in Charlotte to repair a fracture in his left fifth metatarsal bone, the team announced (via Twitter). Djurisic sustained the injury on July 14 in a Summer League game vs. San Antonio.
When agent Misko Raznatovic tweeted about the injury last Tuesday, he expressed optimism that his client would be back on the court in late September. However, the Hawks appear to be projecting a more conservative recovery timeline, indicating in today’s announcement that an update on the 6’7″ guard’s status will be provided in November.
The No. 43 overall pick in last month’s draft, Djurisic played in Serbia from 2020-24, primarily for Mega Basket. He appeared in 26 games (30.7 MPG) for the club in 2023/24, averaging 14.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 steal per contest on .454/.330/.739 shooting.
The Hawks’ plans for Djurisic remain unclear. As we detailed earlier today, he has yet to sign an NBA contract and there doesn’t seem to be room for him on Atlanta’s standard 15-man roster, which currently features 15 players on guaranteed salaries and Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed deal.
Djurisic appears likely to either sign a two-way contract with the Hawks or spend the 2024/25 season as a draft-and-stash prospect. In the latter scenario, he could either continue his career overseas or play in the G League with the College Park Skyhawks.
Ten 2024 Draft Picks Have Yet To Sign NBA Contracts
Of the 58 players who were selected in last month’s draft, 48 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: 5
That leaves 10 players from the 2024 draft class who have yet to sign with their respective NBA teams. Here are those players:
- Utah Jazz: Kyle Filipowski, F/C, Duke
- San Antonio Spurs: Juan Nunez, G, Ratiopharm Ulm
- Atlanta Hawks: Nikola Djurisic, G, Mega Basket
- San Antonio Spurs: Harrison Ingram, F, UNC
- Indiana Pacers: Tristen Newton, G, UConn
- Indiana Pacers: Enrique Freeman, F, Akron
- Dallas Mavericks: Melvin Ajinca, G, Saint-Quentin
- Golden State Warriors: Quinten Post, C, Boston College
- Boston Celtics: Anton Watson, F, Gonzaga
- New York Knicks: Kevin McCullar, G/F, Kansas
Of these 10 players, one has already signed a non-NBA contract — French team ASVEL Basket announced earlier this week that it has added Ajinca to its roster, so it appears he’ll become a draft-and-stash prospect, spending at least one season overseas before joining the Mavericks.
That’s likely the path Nunez will follow as well. While nothing is official yet, a report earlier this month stated that the Spanish point guard is expected to sign with Barcelona on a deal that will give him an NBA out during the 2025 offseason. The Spurs haven’t been operating as if they expect Nunez to be on their roster next season, having filled their 15-man roster with players on standard contracts.
Djurisic is the other international prospect in this group and his plans for 2024/25 remain unclear. He fractured his left foot during Summer League play and the injury is expected to sideline him until at least late September, putting him behind schedule in his offseason workouts.
The Hawks don’t appear to have room on their 15-man roster for Djurisic at this point (they have 15 players on guaranteed deals, plus Bruno Fernando on a non-guaranteed contract), though they do have a two-way slot open. We’ll see if the plan is to have Djurisic take that spot or if he’ll continue playing overseas for another season.
The Jazz have space on their 15-man roster for Filipowski and I expect him to sign a three- or four-year contract sooner or later. Completing that move would cut into Utah’s cap room a little, so the club will likely handle its other offseason business to make sure it doesn’t need that room for other purposes — Filipowski can be signed using the second-round exception whether team salary is over or under the cap. The Jazz also have yet to formally finalize reported deals with Drew Eubanks and Johnny Juzang, which is another sign they’re keeping all options open with their cap room.
The other six unsigned second-rounders – Ingram, Newton, Freeman, Post, Watson, and McCullar – all look to me like obvious candidates for two-way contracts. As we detailed on Tuesday, the Spurs, Pacers, and Knicks each have multiple open two-way slots, while the Celtics have one open spot, so there’s nothing standing in the way of their draftees filling those openings.
It’s worth noting that Indiana has two-way qualifying offers on the table for two players (Quenton Jackson and Oscar Tshiebwe), so there won’t be room for those two guys and Newton and Freeman on two-way deals. With 14 players on standard contracts, the Pacers could give one of those four players a 15-man spot if they want to retain all of them.
The Warriors, meanwhile, don’t currently have an open two-way slot for Post. One of their two-way players – Pat Spencer – is a carry-over from last season, so his grip on a two-way spot might be weaker than more recent signees like Reece Beekman and Daeqwon Plowden, but Spencer had a strong Summer League showing, so I’m not necessarily assuming Post will take his spot.
For what it’s worth, Post was born and raised in the Netherlands before playing college basketball in the U.S., so spending a season in Europe wouldn’t be a total curveball for him. Still, at age 24, he’s probably NBA-ready. A standard contract isn’t an option for Post for now, since the Warriors are right up against their first-apron hard cap and can’t afford to sign a 15th man. That could change if they make a trade, but for now, his best hope of opening the season with Golden State would be for the team to waive one of its two-way players.
While it’s rare for U.S.-born players to be stashed overseas, it’s not unheard of, so that’s also a possibility for some of the other unsigned players from the back half of the second round.
Another potential option would be signing a G League contract that allows the player’s NBA team to retain his rights while not dedicating an 18-man regular season roster spot to him. There’s often at least one player per draft class who takes that route. Mojave King did it in 2023, Gui Santos did it in 2022, and two Nets draftees (RaiQuan Gray and Marcus Zegarowski) did it in 2021. McCullar, a late pick who is still recovering from a knee injury he sustained at Kansas, might be a candidate for this path.
Sixers Notes: George, Maxey, Embiid, McCain
Speaking to reporters at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, new Sixers forward Paul George expressed gratitude to the Clippers for the “amazing” time he spent with his hometown team and said he had “no ill will” toward the franchise over how his five-year run ended, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. George believes “everything just aligned perfectly” for him to make the move to Philadelphia this summer.
“Where they’re at and where they’re trying to go and where I’m trying to get to, as well. I think we got a real legitimate shot,” George said of the Sixers’ ability to contend in the East. “I’ve always been a fan of Tyrese (Maxey) and Joel (Embiid) from afar, and Joel has secretly been one of my closest All-Star Game friends. And so, it kind of felt inevitable that at some point we would link up and be teammates. So, I’m all-in. My family’s here all-in, and I’m excited, and looking forward to this next opportunity.”
Acknowledging that injuries to himself and his teammates were a factor in the Clippers ultimately not making the sort of deep playoff runs they’d hoped for, George expressed optimism that sharing the workload with Maxey and Embiid in Philadelphia will help all three stars stay healthier.
“I think just taking the pressure off Joel,” George said. “I think I can kind of help him get through a season healthy. And again, it’s just not putting so much pressure on him. Regardless of how good you feel, I think pressure causes a lot of injuries as well, and you think you have to get overplayed, you have to touch every possession, that kind of just wears you down, especially for how physical he is. So that’s the key. Everybody do their part, make sure we’re working on our bodies, and that we don’t just put that pressure on one individual to go out and win games for us.”
Here’s more out of Philadelphia:
- The Sixers also held a press conference on Tuesday in honor of Maxey’s new five-year, maximum-salary deal. The guard could have pushed to receive that contract a year ago but was willing to wait until this summer to allow Philadelphia to maximize its cap room, earning praise from president of basketball operations Daryl Morey for his patience. “This offseason wouldn’t be possible without him,” Morey said, per Jeff Neiburg of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “He was very clearly on his way to being what he has become, an All-Star, one of the great future stars of this league, and by being patient he allowed us to put this offseason together, to really put us in this position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year.”
- Speaking to David Marchese of The New York Times on an episode of The Interview podcast, Embiid suggested he believes he could be in the conversation for the NBA’s greatest player of all time if not for the injuries that have cost him so many games over the years. “I think I’m that talented. Obviously you need to win championships, and to win championships you need other guys,” Embiid said. “… If you think about it, the thing that stopped me all these years is just freak injuries. Every single playoffs, regular season, people falling on my knee or breaking my face — twice. It’s always freak injuries at the wrong time.”
- It was a tough Summer League experience for first-round pick Jared McCain in both Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, as he made just 28.6% of his shots from the field in his eight games for the Sixers, including 25.5% of his three-point tries. As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays, McCain is determined to view the summer as a learning experience and not to let his July struggles shake his confidence. “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Whatever you’re going through, you are growing through,'” McCain said. “So whatever I’m doing in life, it’s always a learning lesson from it.”
Eastern Notes: Valanciunas, Raptors, Pistons, Langdon
Veteran center Jonas Valanciunas signed a three-year contract with the Wizards worth in excess of $30MM earlier this month, but the hosts of ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast aren’t expecting the big man to play out that entire deal in D.C. (YouTube link; hat tip to HoopsHype). In fact, Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps suggested they wouldn’t be surprised if Valanciunas is playing elsewhere before the 2024/25 season is over.
“Do we think Jonas Valanciunas will be on offer from the Wizards midway through the season?” Windhorst said. “I wouldn’t rule out Jonas Valanciunas eventually ending up a Laker this year, that’s all I’m going to say.”
“100%,” Bontemps replied. “Or somewhere else besides Washington.”
While Valanciunas figures to slot in as the Wizards’ starting center this fall, the team remains firmly in a rebuilding stage, so if it can get draft assets in exchange for the 32-year-old at next year’s trade deadline, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him on the move in early 2025.
As Windhorst alluded to, Valanciunas was one of the players who was reportedly on LeBron James‘ wish list of “impact” free agents this summer and will likely be more attainable on the trade market that some of the other names on that list (such as James Harden, Klay Thompson, or DeMar DeRozan). So if Valanciunas is available, the Lakers are certainly among the teams who might kick the tires.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca explains how the Raptors made good use of their leverage in their standoff with Sasha Vezenkov and details how their buyout agreement with Vezenkov creates newfound financial flexibility for the team. While Toronto now has about $11.3MM in wiggle room below the luxury tax line, the club may opt to maintain that flexibility in case trade opportunities arise in the fall or during the season, Murphy writes.
- In a mailbag for The Athletic, James L. Edwards III considers whether the Pistons still have moves to make this offseason, suggesting that he wouldn’t be surprised if the team explores the idea of signing one of the notable guards or wings left on the free agent market, such as Tyus Jones, Markelle Fultz, or Reggie Bullock. Edwards also weighs the odds of a Jaden Ivey trade, noting that significant minutes could be harder than ever to come by for the former lottery pick if Detroit is committed to playing Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. regularly.
- Keith Langlois of Pistons.com shares his early impressions of the Pistons‘ new president of basketball operations, exploring what Trajan Langdon‘s moves during his first two months on the job say about his roster-building approach. As Langlois writes, Langdon’s decisions have made it clear he’s not necessarily looking to get Detroit back to the playoffs as quickly as possible.
Checking In On Two-Way Contract Slots Around NBA
NBA teams are each permitted to carry up to three players on two-way contracts, which means at any given time there could be a maximum of 90 players on two-way deals around the league.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contract]
Of course, while it’s common for the NBA-wide total to hover at or near 90 for much of the regular season, we’re only 23 days into the 2024/25 league year, so many teams have yet to fill all of their two-way slots.
Still, some clubs haven’t wasted much time in signing players to two-way contracts. At the moment, as our tracker shows, 62 of the 90 slots around the league are occupied and two more are spoken for — Spencer Jones has reportedly agreed to a deal with Denver and Jack McVeigh is reportedly signing with Houston.
We’re still about three months away from the 2024/25 regular season tipping off, and since two-way deals don’t affect a team’s cap situation, it won’t be a surprise if many teams rotate players in and out of those roster spots up until the season begins (and after that). But for the time being, there are just 26 open two-way slots across the league. Here’s the breakdown:
Teams with multiple open two-way slots
- Brooklyn Nets (2)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (3)
- Indiana Pacers (3)
- Los Angeles Clippers (2)
- New York Knicks (2)
- Orlando Magic (2)
- San Antonio Spurs (2)
Some of these spots may already be spoken for. For instance, the Cavaliers (Emoni Bates), Pacers (Oscar Tshiebwe and Quenton Jackson) and Knicks (Jacob Toppin) still have two-way qualifying offers on the table to restricted free agents. If those players eventually accept those offers, they’ll be back with their respective clubs on new two-way contracts.
Some of these clubs – including the Pacers with Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman, the Knicks with Kevin McCullar, and the Spurs with Harrison Ingram – also have second-round picks from this year’s draft who look like logical candidates for two-way spots.
Still, with multiple openings, many of these teams are in position to identify Summer League standouts whom they want to bring to training camp. They could offer them two-way deals or could try to sign several players to Exhibit 10 contracts and create an open competition for two-way spots this fall.
Teams with one open two-way slot
- Atlanta Hawks
- Boston Celtics
- Charlotte Hornets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Detroit Pistons
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
As with some of the teams above, there are a few cases here where there’s one obvious candidate to fill these two-way openings. It would make sense, for example, for the Celtics to sign No. 54 overall pick Anton Watson to a two-way deal.
That’s not the case for all of these openings though, so agents whose clients are seeking an 18-man roster spot will likely reach out to these clubs to see how they intend to use their third two-way contract slot.
Teams with no two-way openings
- Chicago Bulls
- Denver Nuggets
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Miami Heat
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Sacramento Kings
- Toronto Raptors
In theory, these 13 teams are good to go for training camp. In actuality, I could see half of them making two-way changes by the start of October. The Heat, for instance, had some non-roster players on their Summer League team outperform their two-way players and have some decisions to make on which three players they want to bring to camp on two-way deals.
Contract Details: Mobley, K. Johnson, Bona, Matkovic
The five-year, maximum-salary contract extension that Evan Mobley signed with the Cavaliers features multiple levels of Rose Rule incentives, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during the last episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link).
According to Windhorst, Mobley’s deal will begin at 27% of the 2025/26 cap if he makes the All-NBA Third Team next season. If he makes the All-NBA First or Second Team or wins Defensive Player of the Year, the starting salary in the extension would be 30% of the ’25/26 cap.
Assuming Mobley isn’t named Defensive Player of the Year and doesn’t make an All-NBA team, his deal would begin at the standard max for a player with four years of NBA experience (25% of the cap).
Here are more details on a few contracts recently signed around the NBA:
- Keon Johnson‘s two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets is partially guaranteed for $250K in 2024/25, Hoops Rumors has learned. That partial guarantee will increase to $700K if Johnson remains under contract through the first day of the regular season. The second year is a team option that would be partially guaranteed for $271,614 if it’s exercised.
- The four-year contract that No. 41 overall pick Adem Bona signed with the Sixers is worth the minimum across all four seasons and is only fully guaranteed in year one, Hoops Rumors has learned. Bona’s second-year salary of $1,955,377 is just 50% guaranteed, while his third- and fourth-year salaries are non-guaranteed. The fourth year is also a team option.
- Karlo Matkovic‘s three-year contract with the Pelicans is worth $5.65MM and is fully guaranteed for the first two seasons, with a third-year team option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The terms reported by Scotto suggest that New Orleans used the second-round exception to give Matkovic a salary a little above the rookie minimum in 2024/25, with minimum salaries in years two and three.
Suns Hiring Brent Barry As Assistant Coach
Brent Barry is moving from a front office role in San Antonio to Phoenix’s bench for the 2024/25 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Suns are hiring Barry as an assistant coach.
A former NBA sharpshooter who played in the league from 1995-2009, Barry made 40.5% of his career three-point attempts and won a pair of championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007.
Following his retirement as a player, Barry initially transitioned into the media space, serving as an analyst with TNT from 2016-18.
He was hired by San Antonio in 2018 as the team’s vice president of basketball operations and has spent the last six seasons with the organization. In addition to his VP role, he was the general manager of the Austin Spurs from 2022-24. However, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported last month that Barry was expected to move on from the club this offseason.
Barry’s move to the sidelines doesn’t come out of nowhere. He previously interviewed for the Trail Blazers’ head coaching job in 2021 — that position ultimately went to Chauncey Billups.
Barry represents the latest addition to a new-look Suns coaching staff under head coach Mike Budenholzer, who was a longtime Spurs assistant earlier in his career and overlapped with Barry in San Antonio from 2004-08. David Fizdale, Chad Forcier, Mike Hopkins, Chaisson Allen, and Vince Legarza are among Budenholzer’s other assistants.
Reggie Jackson To Join Sixers After Being Waived By Hornets
The Hornets are waiving veteran point guard Reggie Jackson, league sources tell Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Boone had previously reported that the move was expected, and it’s now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), Jackson intends to sign with the Sixers once he clears waivers.
Prior to Wojnarowski’s report, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer had tweeted that the 76ers would have interest in Jackson, who played with Paul George in Los Angeles from 2020-23.
A 13-year NBA veteran, Jackson spent the 2023/24 season in Denver, backing up Jamal Murray at the point. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, posting a .431/.359/.806 shooting line in 82 outings (23 starts).
Jackson exercised a $5.25MM player option in June, but the Nuggets wanted to go in a different direction with their backup point guard spot and traded the 34-year-old to Charlotte along with multiple second-round picks in a salary-dump deal. Denver is poised to sign Russell Westbrook to fill the backcourt hole created by that deal.
The Hornets, meanwhile, made their trade with Denver in order to acquire those future second-round picks rather than Jackson, who wasn’t in their plans for 2024/25. It’s the second time in the last two years that Charlotte has traded for Jackson and waived him shortly thereafter — it also happened in February 2023, when the Clippers sent him to the Hornets in a deal for Mason Plumlee. Jackson was cut three few days later and caught on with Denver on the buyout market at that time.
Waiving Jackson will create an opening on Charlotte’s 15-man roster, leaving the team with 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts and one (Taj Gibson) on a partially guaranteed deal.
The Sixers, meanwhile, figure to bring Jackson aboard on a minimum-salary contract, since that’s all they can offer to free agents after having used up their cap space and their room exception. The veteran guard will be the 13th man on Philadelphia’s standard roster, providing additional depth in a backcourt that includes rising star Tyrese Maxey, veterans Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, and rookie Jared McCain.
A minimum deal for Jackson will pay him about $3.3MM while counting against the 76ers’ cap for just $2.09MM.
Serbia, Greece Set 12-Man Rosters For Olympics
Two more nations have set their 12-man rosters for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris, with Serbia and Greece both officially announcing their squads (Twitter links).
The Serbian roster is headlined by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and includes a few more NBA players beyond the Nuggets center. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Heat forward Nikola Jovic will also represent Serbia in Paris.
Jovic’s inclusion is particularly notable, since there was some uncertainty earlier this month about whether he’d be healthy enough to play. He injured his ankle during an offseason workout in Miami in June, but has apparently received medical clearance for the Olympics.
Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Dobric, Vanja Marinkovic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac, and Uros Plavsic round out Serbia’s roster. Former NBA first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski, who finished last season with the Hornets, isn’t among the final 12.
Meanwhile, Greece has also confirmed its Olympic roster, which will be led by another former NBA MVP, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is the only Antetokounmpo suiting up for Greece in France at this year’s event, since his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Antetokounmpo are both dealing with injuries.
While Giannis is the only active NBA player on the Greek roster, a few others have previously played in the league, including Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, and Kostas Papanikolaou. Former Stephen F. Austin standout Thomas Walkup also signed an NBA contract back in 2016, though he never appeared in a regular season game.
Dinos Mitoglou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Nikos Chougkaz, Dimitris Moraitis, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, and Vassilis Toliopoulos make up the rest of Greece’s roster.
Serbia’s first pool-play game of the Olympics will take place on Sunday vs. Team USA, while Greece’s Olympic schedule will tip off a day earlier, with a Saturday showdown vs. Canada.