Hoops Rumors Glossary: Maximum Salary
There are many NBA players technically on maximum salary contracts, but most of those players didn’t earn identical salaries this season, making the league’s “maximum salary” something of a misnomer. While each NBA player has a maximum salary that he can earn in a given season, that number varies from player to player, with a handful of factors playing a part in determining the exact figure.
The primary factor in determining a player’s maximum salary is his years of service. If a player has been in the NBA for no more than six years, he can earn up to 25% of the salary cap in the first year of his deal. Players with seven to nine years of experience can earn up to 30%, while veterans with 10 or more years in the NBA are eligible for up to 35% of the cap. In 2022/23, the salary cap is $123,655,000, meaning the maximum salaries are as follows:
| Years in NBA | Salary |
|---|---|
| 0-6 | $30,913,750 |
| 7-9 | $37,096,500 |
| 10+ | $43,279,250 |
The figures above explain why Zach LaVine, who signed a maximum salary contract with the Bulls last July following his eighth NBA season, earned a salary of $37,096,500 this season. But they don’t explain why Suns star Devin Booker, who is also in that 7-9 year window and is on a max contract of his own, made just $33,833,400.
The reason Booker’s maximum salary is a few million shy of LaVine’s is that those league-wide maximum salary figures only apply to the first year of a multiyear contract.
When a player signs a maximum contract, he can receive annual raises of up to either 8% or 5%, depending on whether he signs with his previous team or a new team. So by the third, fourth, or fifth year of his contract, he could be earning significantly more or less than his updated max for that season, depending on the rate the salary cap has been increasing and whether or not he has moved into a new “years of service” group.
Booker signed his first maximum salary contract extension in 2018 and it went into effect in 2019/20, when he had fewer than six years of NBA experience. Although he has received annual 8% raises since then, those raises haven’t been enough to keep up with the annual cap growth and with his move into the 7-9 year window. As a result, he earned about $3.26MM less than his actual max in 2022/23, despite being on a “max contract.”
Booker signed a new contract extension last summer that will go into effect in 2024/25, at which point he’ll receive a major pay bump and surpass LaVine’s annual earnings.
Here are a couple more ways a player’s usual maximum salary can fluctuate:
- A free agent’s maximum salary is always at least 105% of his previous salary. For example, Warriors star Stephen Curry is earning $48,070,014 this season. He’s under contract for three more years, but if he were eligible for free agency this offseason, he’d be eligible to receive a starting salary of up to $50,473,515 (105% of this year’s salary), even though that figure will easily exceed 35% of the 2023/24 cap.
- In certain situations, players eligible for new contracts can earn the maximum salary for the level above the one they’d typically fall into. A player receiving a designated rookie extension can earn up to 30% of the cap instead of 25% if he meets certain criteria. A veteran can become eligible to earn up to 35% of the cap instead of 30% if he meets the same criteria, which are related to MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA honors.
A player who signs a maximum salary contract can receive a trade kicker as part of his deal, but he can’t cash in on that bonus for any amount beyond his maximum salary in a given league year. For instance, Bradley Beal‘s max salary contract with the Wizards features a 15% trade kicker, but if he had been traded this season, he wouldn’t have been eligible to receive that bonus, since he was already earning his maximum salary of $43,279,250.
Similarly, a maximum salary player whose team finishes the season below the minimum salary floor isn’t eligible to receive a share when the team distributes that money to its players, since his max salary for that year can’t be exceeded.
The current figures for maximum salaries in 2023/24 are as follows, based on the NBA’s projection of a $134MM salary cap:
| Years in NBA | Salary |
|---|---|
| 0-6 | $33,500,000 |
| 7-9 | $40,200,000 |
| 10+ | $46,900,000 |
These figures will apply to players who previously signed maximum salary extensions that will go into effect in ’23/24, including Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Darius Garland, and Nikola Jokic.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were previously published by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.
Community Shootaround: Open Head Coach Jobs
The Rockets completed their head coaching search a week-and-a-half ago, hiring Ime Udoka to replace Stephen Silas. However, there are still three NBA teams still in the market for new coaches.
[RELATED: 2023 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]
Interestingly, those three clubs – the Bucks, Pistons, and Raptors – are at very different stages in terms of their development, so even if they consider some of the same candidates, they’ll likely have very different expectations for their new hires, especially in the short term.
Milwaukee won a title in 2021 and expected to make it back to the NBA Finals in each of the last two seasons. The fact that they only won a single playoff series during that stretch is why Mike Budenholzer is out of work — his replacement will be expected to make deeper postseason runs with a roster headed by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
While the Bucks’ roster has championship upside, the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will limit the front office’s flexibility going forward and could hamstring the team’s ability to make additional upgrades. It also may force management to make difficult decisions on upcoming contracts for key contributors on the wrong side of 30, including Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
Detroit is on the opposite side of the spectrum, having won no more than 23 games in a season in any of the last four years. There are some promising young pieces here – including Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and whichever player the team drafts in the top five next month – but the Pistons are all about unrealized potential.
No one on the roster has made an All-Star team, and the next step for the club will be contending for a play-in spot, not a championship. So while a new head coach will be expected to help Detroit take a step forward right away, there won’t be any immediate expectations of winning playoff series.
The Raptors are somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. The team’s 41-41 record this past season was a disappointment, given the presence of former All-Stars like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, along with 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes and three-and-D standout OG Anunoby. But the roster probably lacks the star power and depth necessary to legitimate vie for a championship.
Toronto traded away its 2024 first-round pick with minimal (top-six) protection, so the team won’t want to take a step back next season, even if it makes some significant roster changes. The new head coach will be expected to get the Raptors back to the postseason and not just to make a quick exit.
We want to know what you think: which of the NBA’s three current head coaching vacancies do you view as the most and least appealing jobs? What sort of candidates do you think would be good fits in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Toronto?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Harden, Borrego, Nets
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who finished fourth in Most Valuable Player voting this season, was motivated on Friday night by watching Joel Embiid receive his MVP trophy before Game 3 of the Sixers/Celtics series in Philadelphia, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
It wasn’t exactly Hakeem Olajuwon dominating David Robinson and the Spurs following Robinson’s MVP ceremony in 1995, but Tatum led the Celtics to a 114-102 win in Game 3, scoring a team-high 27 points and helping Boston reclaim home-court advantage in the series.
“It just got me really ready to play,” Tatum said of the pregame ceremony, per Collier. “You could feel the energy from the crowd and the building. I’m happy for (Embiid). He earned it, he deserved it, but I was just focused on trying to win tonight.”
In addition to his 27 points, Tatum grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds, handed out five assists, and had a a pair of steals and a block, earning praise from his teammates for a “superstar” performance.
“He played a terrific game all around, but he finished a tough game on the road in a hostile environment for us,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “That’s what superstars do.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- After scoring 45 points on 17-of-30 shooting in Game 1, James Harden has totaled just 28 points on 5-of-28 shooting in his last two games, both Sixers losses. Embiid wants to see his star teammate be more assertive on offense going forward, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I mean, you just talk to him and you keep telling him to keep shooting,” Embiid said after Friday’s loss. “Be aggressive. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Some nights you’re going to make lots of other shots, a lot of tough ones, and some nights you’re not going to make them. So it’s about finding other ways to impact the game.”
- After Marc Stein suggested that the Nets could be one of the teams with interest in James Borrego as an assistant coach, a league source confirms to NetsDaily that Brooklyn is “100%” in on pursuing Borrego for a spot on Jacque Vaughn‘s staff. The Nets, who are parting ways with multiple assistant coaches, also expressed interest in Borrego last year, per NetsDaily.
- Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required) poses four questions for the Nets to answer this offseason, including what their long-term plan is at point guard and what the cost will be to re-sign restricted free agent Cameron Johnson.
2023 NBA Offseason Preview: Portland Trail Blazers
After an abdominal injury limited Damian Lillard to just 29 games in 2021/22 and the Trail Blazers posted their worst record in 16 years (27-55), the hope in Portland was that better injury luck and a quick retooling of the roster – centered around the acquisition of Jerami Grant – would put the team back in the postseason a year later.
The Blazers were hit hard again by injuries in ’22/23, but even if they’d stayed healthy, their roster wasn’t strong enough to make them a legitimate contender. Portland finished at 33-49, once again tanking hard in the second half — their minus-12.2 net rating after the trade deadline was easily the NBA’s worst, while their 6-21 record during that time ranked dead last in the West.
Lillard has repeatedly pledged his loyalty to the Blazers, expressing a desire to spend his entire career in Portland and making it clear he’s not looking for an exit ramp. But he has also stressed that he doesn’t want to spend his last few prime years on a perennial lottery team. The seven-time All-Star will turn 33 this summer and the Blazers are running out of time to surround him with a strong supporting cast.
Heading into the 2023 offseason, it feels as if general manager Joe Cronin and the front office will get at least one more opportunity to turn the Lillard-led Blazers into a playoff team, but given how quickly situations can change in the NBA, you never know. It has become increasingly rare to get through an offseason without at least one star player making a trade request. If Lillard becomes that player this summer, the Blazers will be forced to alter their roster building plans in a major way.
The Blazers’ Offseason Plan:
The trade package the Blazers gave up for Grant last July wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t insignificant either. And given that Grant performed well in his first season in Portland, averaging 20.5 PPG with a career-best .401 3PT% and solid defense, there’s no reason to think the team won’t do all it can to re-sign the veteran forward this offseason to ensure that he’s not one-and-done as a Blazer.
Frankly, the Blazers would’ve preferred to lock up Grant to an in-season extension rather than having to compete with outside suitors in free agency, but CBA rules limited their maximum offer to about $113MM over four years. It appears Grant will opt for free agency instead, and that’s certainly justifiable — he’s in his prime and possesses a coveted skill set. It’s not unrealistic to expect him to match or exceed the four-year, $120MM deal that Gordon Hayward signed with Charlotte back in 2020.
Even if we assume the Blazers are able to re-sign Grant without engaging in a major bidding war, at least one more move will be required to tangibly upgrade the roster. The trade market might be Portland’s best bet, with Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe among the club’s top trade assets.
I’d expect the Blazers’ potential trade partners to view Sharpe as the more desirable player of those two, given his tantalizing ceiling. If Portland pursues a wing like OG Anunoby, for instance, Sharpe would likely be the first player the Raptors ask about. And there’s some logic in the idea that the Blazers would be open to moving Sharpe, figuring that the 19-year-old won’t reach his prime until Lillard has exited his.
Simons looks to me like the preferred trade chip from Portland’s perspective though. The Blazers’ Achilles heel during their eight consecutive postseason appearances from 2014-21 was that the undersized backcourt of Lillard and CJ McCollum couldn’t hold up defensively against the league’s best scorers. After trading away McCollum, the Blazers have essentially replicated that dynamic with Simons alongside Lillard — I’m skeptical they can seriously contend for a title with both players in their starting lineup.
Center Jusuf Nurkic could also be a trade candidate, given that his salary is appropriately sized for matching purposes. And Portland’s best overall trade chip might be its lottery pick. Of course, if the Blazers luck out and land the No. 1 overall choice, they’re hanging onto it and calling Victor Wembanyama‘s name on draft night. It would probably make sense to keep it at No. 2 or No. 3 too, since Brandon Miller is the sort of wing who would fit perfectly on the current roster.
The Blazers have less than a one-in-three shot to move into the top three though, so if their pick lands where it’s most likely to (No. 6 or No. 7), they should think long and hard about including it in a trade package for an impact player. Their future first-rounders are tied up to a certain extent because they owe one to Chicago that’s protected through 2028, and beyond the top three players, this year’s draft class is heavy on question marks and light on players who are expected to make an immediate impact.
Besides Grant, the Blazers have a handful of other noteworthy players up for new contracts. Cam Reddish and Matisse Thybulle are eligible for restricted free agency and seem more likely to receive qualifying offers now than they did three months ago, having finished the season strong in Portland.
It wouldn’t shock me if the Blazers re-sign both players. But of the two, I view Thybulle as the one more likely to get a qualifying offer and to remain with the team, since he’s the better defender and his QO is worth about $1.5MM less than Reddish’s.
Drew Eubanks and Justise Winslow will also be free agents. Eubanks has been a solid reserve and could be back as long as he’s willing to accept another minimum-salary deal or something close to it. Winslow showed flashes of promise in Portland, but couldn’t overcome the health issues that have plagued him his entire career. I wouldn’t expect him to stick with the Blazers unless they have trouble fortifying their wing depth in free agency or on the trade market.
Salary Cap Situation
Guaranteed Salary
Damian Lillard ($45,640,084)- Anfernee Simons ($24,107,143)
- Jusuf Nurkic ($16,875,000)
- Shaedon Sharpe ($6,313,800)
- Nassir Little ($6,250,000)
- Keon Johnson ($2,808,720)
- Jabari Walker ($400,000)
- Note: Partial guarantee. Rest of salary noted below.
- Total: $102,394,747
Dead/Retained Salary
- Andrew Nicholson ($2,844,430)
- Eric Bledsoe ($1,300,000)
- Didi Louzada ($268,032)
- Total: $4,412,462
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- Kevin Knox ($3,000,000): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $3,000,000
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Trendon Watford ($1,836,096)
- Jeenathan Williams ($1,719,864)
- Jabari Walker ($1,3198,64)
- Note: Partial guarantee. Walker’s salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before July 20.
- Total: $4,875,824
Restricted Free Agents
- Cam Reddish ($7,744,600 qualifying offer / $17,863,362 cap hold): Bird rights
- Matisse Thybulle ($6,275,862 qualifying offer / $13,138,581 cap hold): Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $31,001,943
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- No. 5 overall ($7,858,920)
- Note: This is only a placeholder until the draft order is determined via the lottery.
- No. 23 overall ($2,805,240)
- No. 43 overall (no cap hold)
- Total: $10,664,160
Extension-Eligible Players
- None
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Jerami Grant ($31,432,500 cap hold): Bird rights
- Justise Winslow ($5,326,829 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Drew Eubanks ($1,989,698 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- Ben McLemore ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($1,989,698 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Keljin Blevins ($1,774,999 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- T.J. Leaf ($1,774,999 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total: $46,278,421
Note: The cap holds for McLemore, Hollis-Jefferson, Blevins, and Leaf remain on the Blazers’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Mid-level exception: $12,220,600
- Bi-annual exception: $4,448,000
- Trade exception: $8,300,000
- Trade exception: $2,626,019
Bucks Notes: Coaching Search, Giannis, Middleton, Lopez
Despite the Bucks‘ regular season success in recent years, their playoff runs – with the exception of their 2021 championship – haven’t ended the way they wanted or expected, general manager Jon Horst told reporters on Friday in explaining why the team felt the need to move on from Mike Budenholzer.
As Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays, Horst said on Friday that the Bucks’ next head coach won’t necessarily need to have championship experience – or even NBA head coaching experience – since he doesn’t yet want to “put any boxes around” what sort of candidate the team is looking for.
“That could change. This is obviously very early in what will be a thorough process. Very early in terms of time after the decision’s been made,” Horst said. “… As we dive into the process and it evolves, obviously it becomes more narrow, but at this point, everything is and should be on the table. We’re very much in a phase of gathering and collecting and who’s interested and what that very large candidate pool can be and then we’ll work from there.
Horst, who said he’ll be seeking someone with many of the same traits as Budenholzer who can unlock more of the roster’s potential, added that he likes the idea of getting feedback from Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ other core players before officially hiring a new head coach.
“When it comes to our guys, I really hope and expect them to have a role and a voice in the process,” he said, per Owczarski. “Their opinion matters to me. I know it matters to our ownership group. It’s something that I trust and value. So as we go through the process, I think at the right time we’ll make sure that a group of our players weigh in and partake in this in the right way and the right time.”
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Faced with a new CBA that will introduce more restrictive measures for teams well above the tax line, the Bucks are in a difficult position as they weigh what to do with Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, two important players who are in their 30s and are up for new contracts, Brian Windhorst said during a TV appearance on ESPN’s Get Up (Twitter video link). Windhorst suggests that Marc Lasry‘s decision to sell his stake in the team this year was likely related to the cap-related “quagmire” Milwaukee will face in the coming years.
- In a subscriber-only story for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jim Owczarski examines whether the new CBA will shorten the Bucks’ championship window and digs into what the market will look like for Middleton and Lopez this offseason, assuming Middleton opts out. While rival teams will covet both players and neither will come cheap, sources tell Owczarski that Middleton won’t command a maximum-salary deal and Lopez’s age and 2021 back surgery will work against him.
- Elsewhere at The Journal Sentinel, Owczarski identifies some head coaching candidates the Bucks could consider and breaks down contract details for every player on the roster.
Trajan Langdon, Milt Newton Among Wizards’ GM Candidates
The Wizards are taking their time as they seek out a replacement for former president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard, who was let go last month. However, they have identified at least a couple initial candidates, per Ava Wallace of The Washington Post.
Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and a “small group of decision-makers” have spoken to Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon and Bucks assistant GM Milt Newton, according to Wallace, who adds that the team is still believed to be in the “information-gathering” stage of its search.
Langdon has been with the Pelicans since 2019, when he left his role as an assistant GM with the Nets to work under David Griffin in New Orleans. He received consideration from the Timberwolves when they sought a new head of basketball operations in 2019 and from the Kings when they did the same in 2020.
Newton, hired by the Bucks in the summer of 2017, was the Timberwolves’ general manager from 2013 to 2016 and has also previously worked for the Sixers and the NBA’s league office. Perhaps most notably, he was employed by the Wizards as their VP of player personnel from 2003-13, so he’s no stranger to Washington. Newton was a candidate for the Bulls’ top front office job in 2020 before they hired Arturas Karnisovas.
Wizards VP of player programs John Thompson III and assistant GM Brett Greenberg are running the team’s basketball operations department while the search for a new head of basketball operations continues.
Stein’s Latest: Hart, Pistons, Brooks, Borrego, Raptors, Lee
Knicks forward Josh Hart is “generating no shortage of chatter” as his free agency nears, Marc Stein writes at Substack. Hart holds a player option for 2023/24, but is expected to turn it down in favor of a more lucrative multiyear deal.
While there would certainly be many teams around the NBA interested in making a play for Hart if he’s truly available, Stein hasn’t talked to a rival team that views the 28-year-old as “gettable.” According to Stein, potential suitors for Hart view it as inevitable that the CAA client will re-sign with the Knicks, whose front office is run by former CAA head of basketball Leon Rose.
The Knicks will hold Hart’s Bird rights entering the offseason, giving them the ability to re-sign him for any amount up to the maximum without regard for cap room.
Here’s more from Stein:
- According to Stein, the Pistons have been mentioned to him more than once as a team to keep an eye on for free agent forward Dillon Brooks this summer. Detroit is expected to have a chunk of cap room available and will likely be in the market for help on the wing.
- Having previously reported that former head coach James Borrego is drawing interest from Dallas for a spot on Jason Kidd‘s staff, Stein says there are other teams interested in hiring Borrego as an assistant coach, including the Pelicans. Stein identifies the Rockets and Nets as two more teams that may pursue Borrego, noting that both Ime Udoka and Jacque Vaughn have previously worked with Borrego.
- The Raptors interviewed Bucks assistant Charles Lee for their head coaching position on Thursday, league sources tell Stein (Twitter link). ESPN previously reported that Toronto met with Lee, who is also in the mix for the head coaching opening in Detroit and could emerge as a candidate in Milwaukee if the Bucks are willing to consider an in-house replacement for Mike Budenholzer.
Projected First-Rounder Whitehead Undergoing Second Procedure On Foot
Former Duke swingman Dariq Whitehead will undergo a second procedure on his right foot after a preseason surgery on that foot didn’t heal properly, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Whitehead, who is the No. 23 prospect on ESPN’s big board and is considered a probable first-round pick, recently met with multiple specialists and determined that a second procedure will be necessary. The expectation is that he’ll be fully recovered for the start of the 2023/24 NBA season, his agents at Excel Sports Management tell Wojnarowski.
A five-star recruit out of high school, Whitehead was widely viewed as a potential lottery pick entering the college season, but has seen his stock drop a bit since then. The 6’7″ wing averaged just 8.3 points per game on .421/.429/.793 shooting in 28 games (20.6 MPG) during his freshman season, chipping in 2.4 RPG and 1.0 APG.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report previously stated (via Twitter) that Whitehead’s draft range may be among the widest of this year’s first-round prospects. Today’s news could further divide opinions on the former Blue Devil and will likely negatively impact his stock.
Even if Whitehead is ready to go in the fall, as his representatives say he will be, he’ll miss his first Summer League this July and will find himself a little behind his fellow rookies by the time training camps open. According to Wojnarowski, Whitehead is expected to attend this month’s draft combine, so teams will get an opportunity to meet with him and presumably check out his medical info at that time.
Southeast Notes: Unseld, Wizards, Hornets, Vincent
Wes Unseld Jr.‘s coaching staff will be undergoing some changes this offseason, according to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, who reports (via Twitter) that assistant coaches Alex McLean and Dean Oliver won’t be returning to the Wizards for 2023/24.
As Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets, McLean had been with the Wizards for the last six seasons and also served as the team’s director of player development. Oliver is an analytics specialist and had been with the franchise for four years.
The expectation, as Wallace notes, is that Unseld will have more power to shape his coaching staff and to hire new assistants going forward.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Wizards‘ search for a new head of basketball operations is moving at a deliberate pace and is still in the early stages, according to Robbins (Twitter links), who says the team continues to compile a list of viable candidates for the job. Washington hasn’t hired an outside firm to run the search, which has been led more by ownership, Robbins adds.
- The Hornets are hosting a group of six prospects for a pre-draft workout on Friday, the team announced in a press release. Led by Eastern Michigan forward and former five-star recruit Emoni Bates, the workout will also include Meechie Johnson Jr. (South Carolina), Jaylen Martin (Overtime Elite), Landers Nolley (Cincinnati), Jalen Slawson (Furman), and Trey Wertz (Notre Dame).
- After evolving into more of a play-maker and distributor during his time in Miami, Heat guard Gabe Vincent has been asked to take on more scoring responsibilities since Tyler Herro went down in the first round. As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes, Vincent – an unrestricted free agent this summer – has responded admirably, averaging 15.1 points per game and making 40.4% of his three-pointers since the playoffs began.
Kings Notes: Defense, Sabonis, Barnes, Vezenkov, Murray
The Kings‘ 118.6 offensive rating this season was easily the best mark in the NBA, but their 116.0 defensive rating was the worst of any of the 16 teams that made the playoffs. It’s no surprise then that general manager Monte McNair identified upgrading the defense as a top priority for Sacramento this offseason, per Eduardo Razo of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Still, McNair made it clear that he doesn’t want defensive upgrades to come at the expense of the Kings’ NBA-best offense, stressing that the front office will need to find a way to balance those efforts.
“You always want to continue to shore up your deficiencies, but you don’t want to pull on one string and you lose another,” McNair said. “So we’re going to have to do it in a way that we were able to put all the things we need on the floor for both offense and defense. So, yeah, I don’t know, delicate balance. Everybody has the same challenge, but yes, we need to maintain and improve. We can’t just make trade-offs that keep us in the same spot.”
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Domantas Sabonis will be extension-eligible this summer and the new CBA will allow the Kings to give him a 40% raise (instead of 20%) in an extension offer. Still, that may not be enough to entice him to sign a deal, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. An extension for Sabonis could be worth up to $27.1MM in 2024/25, whereas his maximum salary as a free agent that summer may exceed $42MM. “Domas is a huge part of what we do,” McNair told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re going to do all we can to keep him here and build around him.”
- Asked about Harrison Barnes‘ possible future in Sacramento, McNair referred to the free-agent-to-be as “a pretty fantastic part of our team,” per Slater, and suggested the Kings will have conversations in the coming weeks about retaining Barnes.
- McNair praised the season that draft-and-stash prospect Sasha Vezenkov has had in Greece for Olympiacos and told reporters that a decision on the standout EuroLeague forward will be made later in the summer (Twitter video link via Deuce Mason). Vezenkov is under contract with Olympiacos through 2025, but could be bought out of that deal.
- Keegan Murray didn’t come close to averaging 20 points per game in his first NBA season like Rookie of the Year winner Paolo Banchero, but McNair made the case this week that the Kings forward was the standout player in his draft class for another reason. “A rookie who started seven games in a playoff series, was, I believe, the most winning impact rookie on the court this year,” McNair said, per Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. “While we didn’t ask him to come in and shoot 30 shots, he certainly could have, he was the leading scorer in college basketball last year. But to come in and know what we need, which was to actually defend multiple positions, hit shots, cut to the basket, play off of our veterans, I thought it was a fantastic year for him.”
- Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee explores whether it’s realistic for the Kings to attempt to emulate the Warriors’ championship blueprint.