Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 7/13/2023
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 9:30 am Central time (10:30 Eastern).
Click here to read the transcript and join us next Tuesday for our next live chat, hosted by Dana Gauruder.
Contract Details: Okogie, Phillips, Schröder, Williams, Stewart, Wagner
Suns wing Josh Okogie received a Non-Bird deal when he re-signed with the team, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Rather than earning the veteran’s minimum, Okogie will make 20% above the minimum on his new two-year contract, which includes a second-year player option. His salary in 2023/24 is $2,815,937, while his ’24/25 player option is worth $2,956,734.
As Marks notes, the Suns have now signed six free agents to two-year contracts with second-year player options — Okogie joins Keita Bates-Diop, Drew Eubanks, Eric Gordon, Damion Lee, and Yuta Watanabe in that group. The other five players received minimum-salary deals.
The offers, which include some security beyond 2023/24, may have helped the Suns land their preferred targets on the free agent market. However, they’ll also increase the club’s total salary and end-of-season luxury tax bill. As we’ve previously outlined, the NBA covers of portion of veteran’s minimum salaries for players who sign for a single season, but not for players who sign multiyear minimum contracts.
For instance, Gordon would have earned a $3,196,448 salary in 2023/24 regardless of whether he signed for one year or two. But because he received a second year, Phoenix will be responsible for paying that full salary (and the accompanying tax penalty based on that full salary). On a one-year deal, the Suns would’ve paid Gordon a reduced amount ($2,019,706), with the league making up the difference.
Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:
- Julian Phillips‘ first NBA contract is a four-year deal, according to Marks (Twitter link), who says the Bulls second-round pick will earn $1.6MM in year one and the minimum in the following three seasons. The deal, which was completed using the NBA’s new second-round pick exception, will include a fourth-year team option but is guaranteed for the first three years. As Marks observes, Phillips will receive the second-most guaranteed money of any 2023 second-rounders who have signed so far, behind only No. 32 pick Jalen Pickett.
- Dennis Schröder‘s two-year deal with the Raptors is worth the full mid-level amount, Hoops Rumors has confirmed: $12,405,000 in year one and $13,025,250 in year two. Grant Williams‘ fully guaranteed four-year contract with the Mavericks is also worth the exact amount of the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($53,341,500 in total), though Dallas acquired him via sign-and-trade and still has its MLE available.
- Isaiah Stewart‘s four-year, $60MM extension with the Pistons and Moritz Wagner‘s two-year, $16MM deal with the Magic each have flat annual cap hits – $15MM each year for Stewart and $8MM each year for Wagner – with team options on the final season. As previously reported, Stewart’s deal also includes $1MM per year in incentives, so it could be worth up to $64MM. Meanwhile, as part of his agreement with Orlando, Wagner waived his right to veto a trade during the 2023/24 season, becoming the third player to do so under the new CBA.
Warriors Sign Dario Saric To One-Year Deal
JULY 12: Saric is officially a Warrior, the team announced (via Twitter).
JULY 8: The Warriors and free agent forward Dario Saric have reached an agreement on a one-year contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
While Wojnarowski doesn’t specify the financial terms, the Warriors’ cap situation means they’re limited to minimum-salary offers for free agents who weren’t with the team last season. As a seven-year veteran, Saric will earn $2,709,849 on a minimum deal, while Golden State will take on a cap hit of $2,019,706.
Saric missed the entire 2021/22 season due to an ACL tear, but returned to action this past season. He appeared in 37 contests for Phoenix and – following a trade-deadline deal – 20 for Oklahoma City, averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game with a shooting line of .458/.391/.829.
A 6’10” forward who has made 36.0% of his career three-pointers, Saric is known for his ability to stretch the floor from the frontcourt. In Golden State, he may take on a role similar to the one JaMychal Green played this past year.
The Warriors were named by multiple reporters as Saric’s most likely landing spot in the hours leading up to free agency last week. Marc Stein indicated on Friday that the 29-year-old may have been waiting to see if offers worth more than the veteran’s minimum materialized before agreeing to join Golden State.
With Saric and Draymond Green set to officially sign contracts, the Warriors’ roster count is up to 13 players on standard contracts. That leaves two openings on the 15-man roster and three available two-way slots.
The club may just roll with 14 players on standard deals to open the 2023/24 season for financial and flexibility reasons. Lester Quinones is a good candidate to return in some form — he’s a restricted free agent after being issued a two-way qualifying offer.
Celtics Notes: J. Brown, Jefferson, G. Williams, Banton, Madar
A fifth-year player option and a trade kicker could be among the contract details being haggled over as the Celtics and Jaylen Brown continue to negotiate a potential super-max extension, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe and Brian Robb of MassLive.com.
Given that Brown has been the subject of frequent trade speculation in recent years and might be the odd man out down the road if the Celtics want to shake up their roster and/or reduce their payroll, the possible inclusion of a trade kicker could be a key point of contention for both sides, Robb speculates.
According to Himmelsbach, the Celtics and Brown’s camp continued to talk over the weekend and into this week, and league sources remain confident that an extension will be completed sooner or later, but one source told The Globe that “there is work to be done” still.
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- In a separate story for The Boston Globe, Himmelsbach looks at the friendship between former Duke teammates Jayson Tatum and Amile Jefferson, who is joining the Celtics’ coaching staff as an assistant for the 2023/24 season.
- Grant Williams, whose sign-and-trade to Dallas was finalized on Wednesday, spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports about leaving the Celtics, referring to it as a situation where “both sides just did what’s best for each.”
- Dalano Banton, who said he’s excited to be joining a “championship organization,” wasn’t able to play in the Celtics’ first two Summer League games in Las Vegas due to a minor injury, according to Souchi Terada of MassLive.com. However, Banton apparently plans to play in Wednesday’s game. His two-year deal with Boston isn’t yet official but will presumably be finalized shortly.
- Celtics draft-and-stash prospect Yam Madar, a second-round pick in the 2020 draft, has signed with Turkish club Fenerbahce, per a press release from the team. It’s a two-year deal with a third-year option, though it may include NBA outs.
- In case you missed it, the Celtics officially signed Kristaps Porzingis to his two-year extension on Wednesday.
Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis Finalize Two-Year Extension
JULY 12: Porzingis’ two-year extension with the Celtics is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
The deal, which is worth exactly $60MM, will pay the big man approximately $29.3MM in 2024/25 and $30.7MM in ’25/26, Hoops Rumors has learned.
JUNE 30: The Celtics and newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis are expected to finalize a two-year contract extension worth $60MM, reports Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).
Porzingis, who was acquired by Boston in a trade last week, is extension-eligible but can only tack on a maximum of two new years to his current deal due to the NBA’s extend-and-trade restrictions. Marc Stein reported multiple times that Porzingis was likely to receive an extension from Boston.
A former All-Star with the Knicks, Porzingis has dealt with a series of injuries throughout his career, including a torn ACL that sidelined him for the entire 2018/19 season. However, he enjoyed his finest NBA season in ’22/23 with the Wizards, averaging 23.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 0.9 SPG and 1.5 BPG in 65 games (32.6 MPG).
In addition to his strong rim protection at 7’3″, Porzingis was also a very efficient scorer last season, posting a .498/.385/.851 shooting line, good for a 62.7% true shooting percentage, which accounts for twos, threes and free throws. He isn’t a traditional back-to-the-basket big man, but he excelled in the post in ’22/23 by using his size to shoot over opponents.
While the 27-year-old had a great season, it’s a major risk to add another $60MM to Porzingis’ contract. With Jaylen Brown highly likely to receive a super-max extension this summer (it will kick in next year) and Jayson Tatum certain to receive the same in 2024 (it would start in 2025), the Celtics are looking like a repeat taxpayer for the foreseeable future.
Still, if they can break through and win a title (or titles) in the coming years, I’m sure ownership will be happy to foot the bill.
Rory Maher contributed to this story.
Bulls Sign Second-Round Pick Julian Phillips
The Bulls have officially signed second-round pick Julian Phillips to his first NBA contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).
There’s no word yet on the terms of Phillips’ deal, but players drafted as high as he was (No. 35) typically sign standard contracts, and the Bulls’ announcement doesn’t say anything about it being a two-way pact. I imagine the club used the new second-round pick exception to sign him to a three- or four-year contract that includes at least one or two guaranteed seasons.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
A 6’8″ forward, Phillips spent just one year in college before declaring for the draft as an early entrant. As a freshman at Tennessee in 2022/23, he averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 points, and 1.4 assists in 24.1 minutes per contest (32 games), earning SEC All-Freshman honors.
Phillips ‘ shot needs work (he made just 11-of-46 three-pointers at Tennessee), but he possesses intriguing length and athleticism.
Assuming Phillips signed a standard contract, the Bulls will have 13 players on their 15-man roster once Torrey Craig officially completes his reported deal with the team. That roster count includes Carlik Jones‘ non-guaranteed contract, but doesn’t include Ayo Dosunmu, who is still a restricted free agent.
Domantas Sabonis Has Not Undergone Thumb Surgery
2:33pm: Sabonis did not undergo surgery on his thumb, a league source tells James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). It seems that Maksvytis was misinformed or something was lost in translation.
The Kings’ big man continues to follow a “strict rehab protocol,” Ham adds.
12:57pm: Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who suffered an avulsion fracture in his right thumb last season, underwent a surgical procedure to address the injury, according to Lithuanian national team head coach Kazys Maksvytis.
The Kings have been cagey about providing updates on Sabonis’ thumb during the offseason, with general manager Monte McNair declining to comment in his post-draft press conference on whether or not the star center went under the knife.
However, as BasketNews.com relays, in discussing the anticipated absence of Sabonis for the 2023 World Cup, Maksvytis confirmed in a presser of his own that the big man underwent surgery.
“He tried to recover without the surgery, but it didn’t work, and he lost time,” Maksvytis said. “After the surgery, everything takes longer.”
Sabonis, who broke his thumb in December, only missed a single game before returning to action. The injury didn’t slow him down much, as he averaged 19.1 points, a league-leading 12.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 79 games (34.6 MPG) during his first full season in Sacramento, earning his third All-Star berth and his first All-NBA nod. Sabonis cashed in this offseason when he signed a four-year extension that includes a renegotiated salary for 2023/24.
Without a formal update from the Kings, it’s unclear what sort of recovery timeline Sabonis might be looking at or whether he’ll be available when training camp begins in September. However, McNair did say last month that the team’s expectation is that the 27-year-old will be “good to go” for the regular season this fall.
As for Lithuania’s national team, Maksvytis said during his press conference that Sabonis “apologized for not coming and promised to be available next summer” for the 2024 Olympics.
Trade Rumors: Harden, Bogdanovic, Mavs, Zion, Blazers
Although James Harden hasn’t backed off the trade request he made in June, there’s no indication that the Sixers are on the verge of dealing the former MVP, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said during an appearance on NBA Today on Tuesday (YouTube link).
“(Harden and the Sixers) have spoken again, and he still reiterated he wants to be traded,” Shelburne said. “Now, this isn’t a demand, it’s a request. I think the Sixers have said, ‘Okay, we will try to trade you,’ but there is no hurry to do this. I think the Sixers understand that they have the leverage here. James has picked up his option… He’s going to be a free agent after this season, so at some point he needs to play, whether that’s in Philadelphia or elsewhere.”
The situation in Philadelphia, as Shelburne portrays it, isn’t acrimonious. While Harden would prefer to play elsewhere, it’s not necessarily a sure thing that he’ll be wearing another uniform when the 2023/24 season begins.
“There is a sense that if they can give it some time – and he’s cool with his teammates, he’s been talking to Joel Embiid, he’s been talking to Patrick Beverley, P.J. Tucker – that eventually maybe those fences can be mended, and there is a path to reconciliation with James Harden,” Shelburne said. “But for now, he has reiterated his trade request.”
Here are a few more trade-related items from around the NBA:
- In the latest episode of his Howdy Partners podcast (YouTube link; hat tip to The Smoking Cuban), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said he has “heard some rumblings” about the Mavericks circling back to Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who was linked to Dallas prior to the draft. MacMahon cautions that he’s not sure the Mavs have the assets to land Bogdanovic, given Detroit’s high asking price, and suggests Dallas’ priority may be to trade for a starting-caliber center.
- According to Jake Madison of Locked on Pelicans (Twitter link), Chris Haynes of TNT said on a TV broadcast last Friday that league executives got the sense this offseason that Pelicans forward Zion Williamson could be had “for the right situation and the right package.” However, sources have told Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link) that New Orleans wasn’t prepared to “pivot away” from Williamson on draft day, and ESPN’s Andrew Lopez said in the latest Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the Pelicans’ trade offers for the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in this year’s draft were heavily based around future picks, not players.
- Within that same ESPN.com story, Lowe says he hasn’t heard compelling evidence that a “sensible” trade was available for the Trail Blazers with the No. 3 overall pick last month. The Nets never showed any interest in giving up Mikal Bridges for a package based around the No. 3 pick and Anfernee Simons, according to Lowe, who says the Heat “chuckled” at the idea of Portland asking for Bam Adebayo. The Raptors also weren’t ready to move off of Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby as of draft day, Lowe adds, though it’s unclear if the Blazers would have moved the No. 3 pick in a deal for either player.
Thunder Trade Patty Mills To Hawks For Three Players, Second-Round Pick
JULY 12: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Hawks.
The Thunder’s press release indicates that OKC is receiving a 2026 second-round pick in the deal. Atlanta previously traded away its own ’26 second-rounder, but controlled Golden State’s second-rounder for that year, so that’s presumably the one headed to the Thunder.
JULY 8: The Thunder have agreed to trade guard Patty Mills to the Hawks in exchange for guard TyTy Washington, forward Rudy Gay, big man Usman Garuba, and a second-round pick, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
This trade agreement will likely be separate from the five-team sign-and-trade deal that will send Dillon Brooks to Houston, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype.
Mills, Washington, and Garuba – who are all still technically Rockets for the time being – are all expected to be involved in that Brooks trade, with Mills ticketed for Oklahoma City and Washington and Garuba on track to land in Atlanta.
However, they probably can’t simply be rerouted to new destinations within the same transaction, since the Thunder don’t have the cap room necessary to take on the additional salary, Gozlan notes. OKC would be able to salary-match and go over the cap using Mills ($6.8MM) in a separate deal.
Having initially agreed to take on Washington ($2.3MM) and Garuba ($2.6MM) in a salary-dump trade that netted them two second-round picks, the Hawks will still come out ahead by sending one second-rounder to the Thunder and will shed Rudy Gay‘s unwanted expiring contract ($6.5MM) in the process.
Atlanta will end up with Mills – who may or may not remain on the roster and play a role in the team’s backcourt in 2023/24, per Wojnarowski (Twitter link) – and will save a little money while opening up a couple roster spots. The team is now $8.2MM under the tax line with 16 players on standard contracts, including three on non-guaranteed deals, tweets Gozlan.
Mills almost certainly wasn’t in the Thunder’s plans — they’d agreed to take him into their cap room as part of the Brooks sign-and-trade in order to acquire a pair of second-round picks. Those picks will be Houston’s 2029 and 2030 second-rounders, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
It’s unclear if the Thunder envision Washington, Garuba, or Gay opening the season on their roster. But even if all three of those players are waived, Oklahoma City will add another second-round pick in this deal, which is presumably the priority.
This will be the third time Mills has been traded this offseason. He was sent from Brooklyn to Houston and will move from Houston to OKC before heading to Atlanta.
A veteran combo guard who will turn 35 next month, Mills was no longer a major part of the Nets’ rotation last season — his 14.3 minutes per game represented his lowest average since the 2012/13 season. He recorded 6.2 points and 1.4 assists per game in 40 appearances, with a shooting line of .411/.366/.833.
Garuba was a first-round pick in 2021 and Washington was a first-rounder in 2022, but neither player has established himself as a consistent, reliable NBA player so far. As for Gay, he has compiled an impressive career résumé across 17 seasons in the league, but he’ll turn 37 in August, so his best days are behind him.
How Teams Are Using 2023/24 Mid-Level Exceptions
In addition to receiving approximately $136MM in cap room and being allowed to surpass that threshold in order to sign players using Bird Rights or the minimum salary exception, each NBA team also receives a mid-level exception. The value of this exception varies depending on a club’s total team salary.
A team that goes under the cap to use its available cap room, for instance, receives a form of the MLE known as the room exception. An over-the-cap team receives the full mid-level exception, unless that team is also over the first tax apron, in which case it gets a modest taxpayer version of the MLE. A team whose salary is over the second tax apron isn’t permitted to use its mid-level at all.
We detailed the exact values of each form of mid-level exception earlier this offseason, but here’s a quick breakdown:
- Room exception: Can be used for contracts up to three years, with a starting salary worth up to $7,723,000.
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to two years, with a starting salary worth up to $5,000,000.
- Full/non-taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to four years, with a starting salary worth up to $12,405,000.
- Note: Though its name suggests otherwise, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception doesn’t mean a team can’t or won’t be above the tax line ($165,294,000) at season’s end; it simply means the team’s total salary can’t surpass the first tax “apron” ($172,346,000).
Now that most of the NBA’s teams have used up their cap space, it’s worth keeping an eye on which teams still have part or all of their mid-level exceptions available, which we’ll do in the space below.
This list will be kept up to date throughout the 2023/24 league year, with new MLE deals added once those signings are officially completed and we confirm the contract details.
Note: After the 2024 trade deadline, the value of the exceptions below will begin to prorate downward.
Here’s where things currently stand:
Mid-Level Exception:
Non-taxpayer: $12,405,000
Taxpayer: $5,000,000
Atlanta Hawks
- Used: $0
Boston Celtics
- Used: $0
- Note: The Celtics are limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception, at best.
Brooklyn Nets
- Used: $850,000 (Jalen Wilson)
Charlotte Hornets
- Used: $0
Chicago Bulls
- Used: $6,190,476 (Jevon Carter); $500,000 (Onuralp Bitim)
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Used: $8,800,000 (Georges Niang); $1,500,000 (Craig Porter Jr.)
Dallas Mavericks
- Used: $3,000,000 (Dante Exum); $4,000,000 (Seth Curry); $1,000,000 (A.J. Lawson)
- Note: The Mavericks used $10.5MM of their mid-level exception to sign Matisse Thybulle to an offer sheet, but it was matched by the Trail Blazers, freeing up Dallas’ MLE.
Denver Nuggets
- Used: $5,000,000 (Reggie Jackson)
- Note: The Nuggets are limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Golden State Warriors
- Used: $0
- Note: The Warriors are over the second tax apron and don’t have the mid-level exception available.
Los Angeles Clippers
- Used: $0
- Note: The Clippers are over the second tax apron and don’t have the mid-level exception available.
Los Angeles Lakers
- Used: $10,500,000 (Gabe Vincent); $1,554,655 (Spencer Dinwiddie)
Memphis Grizzlies
- Used: $5,000,000 (Bismack Biyombo); $2,232,308 (Vince Williams); $1,991,428 (GG Jackson)
Miami Heat
- Used: $0
- Note: The Heat aren’t expected to have the mid-level exception available due to their proximity to the second tax apron.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Used: $0
- Note: The Bucks are over the second tax apron and don’t have the mid-level exception available.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Used: $5,000,000 (Shake Milton); $4,000,000 (Troy Brown)
New Orleans Pelicans
- Used: $1,801,769 (E.J. Liddell); $1,500,000 (Matt Ryan)
New York Knicks
- Used: $11,650,000 (Donte DiVincenzo)
Philadelphia 76ers
- Used: $2,795,839 (Kyle Lowry); $864,353 (Ricky Council)
- Note: Limited to taxpayer mid-level exception.
Phoenix Suns
- Used: $0
- Note: The Suns are over the second tax apron and don’t have the mid-level exception available.
Portland Trail Blazers
- Used: $1,951,220 (Duop Reath)
Toronto Raptors
- Used: $12,405,000 (Dennis Schröder)
Washington Wizards
- Used: $900,000 (Eugene Omoruyi); $2,424,892 (Tristan Vukcevic); $1,250,000 (Jared Butler)
Room Exception:
Available: $7,723,000
Detroit Pistons
- Used: $0
Houston Rockets
- Used: $0
Indiana Pacers
- Used: $1,100,000 (Kendall Brown)
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Used: $7,723,000 (Vasilije Micic)
Orlando Magic
- Used: $0
Sacramento Kings
- Used: $6,341,464 (Sasha Vezenkov); $683,430 (Keon Ellis)
San Antonio Spurs
- Used: $0
Utah Jazz
- Used: $500,000 (Kenneth Lofton Jr.); $500,000 (Darius Bazley)
- Note: The Jazz used their room exception to sign Paul Reed to an offer sheet, but it was matched by the Sixers, freeing up Utah’s exception.