Cavs To Hold Player-Led Mini-Camp In Los Angeles
A number of Cavaliers players will meet next week in Los Angeles for a voluntary mini-camp, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who reports that All-Star guard Darius Garland and Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley are helping to organize the workouts.
Sources tell Fedor that the majority of Cavs players are expected to participate, though some of the team’s international players may not make it to L.A. due to overseas obligations, including to their national teams. That group includes Lauri Markkanen, Cedi Osman, and Raul Neto.
Collin Sexton also won’t be attending the mini-camp, since he’s still a restricted free agent and isn’t under contract with the Cavaliers, Fedor notes.
A number of clubs around the NBA hold voluntary offseason mini-camps to help improve team chemistry and to prepare for the season. As Fedor writes, LeBron James used to organize them during his Cleveland days, and handed off that responsibility to Kevin Love in recent years.
Love spoke at the end of the 2021/22 season about possibly holding a mini-camp in Austin or Nashville, according to Fedor, who says the possibility of player-led workouts taking place in Nashville next month remains on the table.
Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team
On Thursday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2022/23 season. Although that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the current season, not every NBA team was represented. Five of the league’s 30 franchises – the Spurs, Rockets, Magic, Pistons and Pacers – didn’t have a single player in the top 50.
Our list of highest-paid players for 2022/23 also only provided a snapshot for this year. For example, Kevin Love, who cracked the top 50, will be well compensated for the coming season but is on an expiring contract and will almost certainly fall off that list next year.
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 2022/23 season and its highest-paid player in total.
Let’s dive in…
Atlanta Hawks
2022/23: Trae Young ($37,096,500)- Total: Trae Young (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
- Note: Young’s final year is a player option.
Boston Celtics
- 2022/23: Jayson Tatum ($30,351,780)
- Total: Jayson Tatum (four years, $134,896,800)
- Note: Tatum’s final year is a player option.
Brooklyn Nets
- 2022/23: Kevin Durant ($44,119,845)
- Note: Durant’s cap hit includes a $42,969,845 base salary and $1,150,000 in likely incentives.
- Total: Kevin Durant (four years, $197,656,908)
- Note: Durant’s four-year earnings include $192,504,908 in base salaries and $5,152,000 in likely incentives.
Charlotte Hornets
- 2022/23: Gordon Hayward ($30,075,000)
- Total: Terry Rozier (four years, $96,258,694)
- Note: A small amount ($1,718,905) of Rozier’s final-year salary is non-guaranteed.
- Note: A small amount ($1,718,905) of Rozier’s final-year salary is non-guaranteed.
Chicago Bulls
- 2022/23: Zach LaVine ($37,096,500)
- Total: Zach LaVine (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: LaVine’s final year is a player option.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2022/23: Kevin Love ($28,942,830)
- Total: Darius Garland (six years, $201,770,795)
- Note: The amount owed to Garland could increase to $240,340,795 if he makes an All-NBA team in 2023. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $133MM salary cap for 2023/24.
Dallas Mavericks
- 2022/23: Luka Doncic ($37,096,500)
- Total: Luka Doncic (five years, $215,159,700)
- Note: Doncic’s final year is a player option.
Denver Nuggets
- 2022/23: Nikola Jokic ($33,047,803)
- Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $32,478,837 base salary and $568,966 in likely incentives. He also has another $568,966 in unlikely incentives.
- Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $32,478,837 base salary and $568,966 in likely incentives. He also has another $568,966 in unlikely incentives.
- Total: Nikola Jokic (six years, $303,037,803)
- Note: Jokic’s final year is a player option. The value of his maximum-salary extension is based on a projected $133MM salary cap for 2023/24.
Detroit Pistons
- 2022/23: Kelly Olynyk ($12,804,878)
- Total: Marvin Bagley III (three years, $37,500,000)
Golden State Warriors
- 2022/23: Stephen Curry ($48,070,014)
- Total: Stephen Curry (four years, $215,353,662)
2022/23: 
2022/23: And-Ones: Offseason, Tampering Rules, FA Signings
In a roundtable discussion, Howard Beck, Chris Mannix, Robin Lundberg, and Rohan Nadkarni discussed the best, worst, most surprising, and most intriguing moves of the 2022 NBA offseason, agreeing on some issues and sharing opposing views on others.
For instance, while Beck and Mannix both view the Rudy Gobert blockbuster as the best roster move of the summer, Beck makes the case that the Jazz‘s side of the deal was the offseason’s top move, while Mannix argues for the Timberwolves‘ side.
Beck, Lundberg, and Nadkarni, meanwhile, all named the Hawks‘ acquisition of Dejounte Murray as the summer’s most intriguing roster move, while Beck and Lundberg agree that Kevin Durant‘s trade request with four years left on his contract was the offseason’s worst move. From a basketball perspective, Durant would be best off staying in Brooklyn and playing for a Nets team that looks capable of contending for a title, Beck writes.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The NBA’s tampering rules aren’t exactly working as intended, but it’s unclear if there’s any obvious way to fix them, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. “The threat of harsher penalties and random audits doesn’t even make teams flinch,” one source told Todd. “And at this point, if we investigated every possible instance of tampering, the whole league would come to a screeching halt and nothing would ever get done.” According to Todd, multiple front office executives that she spoke to expressed support for moving free agency ahead of the draft, among other changes to the current system.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic wrapped up his series on which teams improved the most and least this offseason by listing his picks from 20 to 11 and from 10 to one. The Sixers were Aldridge’s choice for the team that made the best roster upgrades, followed by the Hawks, Nuggets, Celtics, and Timberwolves.
- Dan Devine of The Ringer shines a light on seven under-the-radar free agent agreements that he’s intrigued by, including the Heat‘s three-year deal with Caleb Martin, the Timberwolves‘ acquisition of Kyle Anderson, and the Pistons‘ investment in Marvin Bagley III.
Community Shootaround: 2022’s Best, Worst Big-Money FA Deals
When we identified the top 50 highest-paid NBA players of 2022/23 on Thursday, four names on that list were free agents who signed new contracts this offseason. Those players, who received the four most lucrative free agent deals of 2022, are as follows:
- Bradley Beal, Wizards: Five years, $251,019,650. Fifth-year player option. 15% trade kicker. No-trade clause.
- Zach LaVine, Bulls: Five years, $215,159,700. Fifth-year player option. 15% trade kicker.
- Deandre Ayton, Suns: Four years, $132,929,128.
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks: Four years, $104,000,000. Fourth-year player option. 10% trade kicker.
As our tracker shows, five other 2022 free agents received multiyear contracts that will pay them at least $15MM per year. Here are those players, along with the details of their new deals:
- Anfernee Simons, Trail Blazers: Four years, $100,000,000.
- Luguentz Dort, Thunder: Five years, $82,500,000. Fifth-year team option. Includes $5MM in unlikely incentives.
- Jusuf Nurkic, Trail Blazers: Four years, $70,000,000.
- James Harden, Sixers: Two years, $68,640,000. Second-year player option. 15% trade kicker.
- Mitchell Robinson, Knicks: Four years, $60,000,000.
These nine contracts are what we’re considering the “big-money” deals of 2022 free agency. That term is subjective, but no other free agent received a contract worth more than $50MM in total, or with an annual average value of $15MM+, so these deals are in a class of their own.
With that in mind, we want to know which of this summer’s biggest free agent contracts you view as the best and worst values from a team perspective.
The Wizards have received some criticism not just for signing Beal to a contract exceeding $50MM per year but for handing him a series of perks that will give him significant leverage if the team wants to trade him down the road. But are there other contracts in the groups above that you’d consider even less team-friendly than Beal’s?
Harden, meanwhile, has been lauded for taking a pay cut that created the spending power necessary for the Sixers to sign P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, though his average salary ($34.32MM) is still the third-highest of any of this summer’s free agent deals. Does the short-term nature of that contract and his potential ceiling make it the most team-friendly contract of these nine, or is there another one you like more?
Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your two cents on this year’s best and worst big-money free agent signings!
Wolves’ Glen Taylor Talks Gobert, McDaniels, Russell, Towns
Appearing on The Scoop podcast with Darren Wolfson of SKOR North and 5 Eyewitness News, Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor admitted he was somewhat surprised by the team’s acquisition of star center Rudy Gobert, since it “happened fairly fast.”
According to Taylor, new Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly had his eye on multiple impact trade targets, but Gobert was his “number one option.” The input of head coach Chris Finch, who expressed confidence in his ability to use Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, was also a key factor in Minnesota’s decision to pull the trigger on the blockbuster deal.
“What I did when Tim and Chris talked to me about this trade is to ask (Finch) is there a system that he knows how to utilize these players,” Taylor said. “And he was very confident that he did understand how to utilize their skill sets, being two big guys. We talked about a lot, so he convinced me that this is something that is going to take us to a winning situation, and gave us the go-ahead to make the trade.”
Taylor confirmed that the Jazz pushed for Jaden McDaniels to be part of the trade package for Gobert, which “prolonged the trade talks for a while,” but the Wolves were eventually able to meet Utah’s asking price without including the young forward.
Here’s more from Taylor on the Wolves:
- Asked if he’d like to see D’Angelo Russell sign an extension before the season begins, Taylor said it might benefit both sides to hold off and see how the 2022/23 season goes. “(Finch) believes that with the new lineup, and with Russell in that lineup, that he’ll have a much better year just because of the way we’re going to play,” Taylor said. “He says he thinks there’s a big upside for Russell with this group of (players). That’s to his advantage and to our advantage if it works out.”
- The decision to give Towns a super-max extension this offseason was an easy one, Taylor said: “It was a non-issue. That’s what we set it up for, the elite players, and Karl has proved he’s one of those players.”
- Taylor said that he doesn’t expect the Timberwolves to make any more significant roster moves this offseason, though he didn’t rule out the possibility that Connelly could surprise him. “I just know Tim keeps his ears and eyes open all the time, looking (to see) if there’s something else that might happen,” Taylor said. “He’s very proactive if he sees an opportunity that could enhance our team. I think we’re set, but always knowing that he’ll be looking for an opportunity.”
- The plan remains for Taylor to hand over control of the franchise to incoming owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in a little over a year. The Wolves’ longtime owner said he’s not having any regrets about giving up control of the team as it becomes a more legitimate contender. “No, I don’t have any second thoughts. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Taylor said. “We’ve left some options open that I’ll continue to be involved if I want to be involved, and that suits me just fine.”
NBA To Retire Bill Russell’s No. 6 Jersey Throughout League
In the wake of Bill Russell‘s recent passing, the NBA has announced it will retire Russell’s No. 6 jersey throughout the league, confirming the decision in a press release on Thursday. The National Basketball Players Association put out the same announcement on its own website.
Players who currently wear No. 6, including Lakers superstar LeBron James, will be able to continue wearing it, but the number won’t be issued again by any team to any player going forward, according to today’s announcement.
“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized.”
“This is a momentous honor reserved for one of the greatest champions to ever play the game,” NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio stated. “Bill’s actions on and off the court throughout the course of his life helped to shape generations of players for the better and for that, we are forever grateful. We are proud to continue the celebration of his life and legacy alongside the league.”
Russell, who wore No. 6 for his entire NBA career from 1956-69, won a league-record 11 championships in just 13 seasons. In addition to his unprecedented success on the court, Russell was a trailblazer off of it, championing civil rights, equality, and inclusion. He became the first Black head coach in the NBA and in major U.S. sports when he was named the player-coach of the Celtics in 1966.
According to the NBA, the league will pay further tribute to Russell by having all players wear a commemorative patch on their jerseys during the 2022/23 season, with every NBA court displaying a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on the sidelines near the scorer’s table.
Besides James, 24 other NBA players wore the No. 6 in 2021/22, per Basketball-Reference. Many of those players are no longer under contract, but Bulls guard Alex Caruso, Pistons wing Hamidou Diallo, and Wizards big man Kristaps Porzingis are among those who still wear the number and will be allowed to continue doing so.
Nets Notes: Durant, Marks, Nash, Simmons, Curry
Kevin Durant‘s four-year contract extension with the Nets, which he signed last year, went into effect the day after he made his trade request and includes advance payment language that required the team to cut him a hefty pay check on July 1, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.
As we noted earlier today in our list of this season’s highest-paid players, Durant is owed a $42,969,845 base salary in 2022/23. According to Stein, the star forward’s contract calls for him to receive 50% of that figure ($21,484,922) in a pair of installments on July 1 and October 1. That means that Durant received $10,742,461 from the Nets on the day after he asked the team to trade him.
As Stein observes, the fact that Durant is owed another $10.7MM+ on October 1 adds another layer of drama to the question of whether or not he’ll show up for training camp during the last week of September if he hasn’t been traded by then. If he doesn’t report, it’s possible the Nets would decide to withhold that payment.
Here’s more out of Brooklyn:
- Elsewhere in his Substack story, Stein says there’s a growing belief among rival teams that Durant knew Nets owner Joe Tsai wouldn’t actually fire GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash when KD made his ultimatum. One prevailing theory, according to Stein, is that Durant is trying to sow discord in an effort to make the Nets lower their asking price and trade him “out of exasperation.” If that’s the endgame, it doesn’t appear to being according to plan so far.
- ESPN and ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy said during a Sirius XM Radio appearance that he believes the relationship between Durant and the Nets (including Marks and Nash) can still be salvaged.
“I think it would be an awkward couple of days and then you win three in a row because I think if (Ben) Simmons comes back, (Joe) Harris comes back, (Kyrie) Irving is in a right space and is able to play and Durant comes back, they’ve got a really good team,” Van Gundy said, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “And so winning helps camouflage any bad feelings and so I don’t think it will be as bad for as long as people might suspect on the outside.” - Simmons and Seth Curry are both eligible for contract extensions with the Nets, but Alex Schiffer of The Athletic doesn’t expect Brooklyn to lock up either player until the team has more clarity on its future. Even if the Nets get resolution on Durant and Irving, it seems unlikely they’d pursue an extension with Simmons, who has yet to play a game for the club and still has two years left on his current contract, but Curry – a free agent in 2023 – would be a logical candidate for a new deal.
Team USA Sets Roster For August World Cup Qualifiers
Team USA will play a pair of qualifying games for the 2023 World Cup this month, squaring off against Uruguay on August 25 in Las Vegas and then facing Colombia on August 29 in Barranquilla, Colombia.
USA Basketball issued a press release today announcing its 12-man roster for those qualifying games. The following players will be representing the U.S. on a club led by head coach Jim Boylen:
- Malik Ellison, G
- Michael Frazier, G
- Langston Galloway, G
- John Jenkins, G
- Mac McClung, G
- David Stockton, G
- McKinley Wright IV, G
- Tyler Cavanaugh, F
- DaQuan Jeffries, F
- Robert Woodard, F
- Eric Mika, F/C
- Dewan Hernandez, C
McClung is the only member of the 12-man group who is currently under contract with an NBA team, having signed a training camp contract with the Warriors last month. However, everyone on the roster except for Ellison has appeared in at least one NBA regular season game.
Galloway and Jenkins are the most experienced NBA veterans on the roster. Galloway has 452 regular season games for seven teams under his belt, while Jenkins has made 171 appearances for five clubs.
Team USA has a 5-1 record through the first three qualifying windows, putting the squad in a tie for first place with Brazil atop Group F. After this month’s games, the remaining two qualifying windows are scheduled for November and February — teams will end up playing a total of 12 qualifying contests apiece.
The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10 next year. Assuming its team qualifies – which looks like a pretty safe bet – USA Basketball is expected to send a roster of more accomplished NBA veterans to the event.
NBA’s Top 50 Highest-Paid Players For 2022/23
Many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, but the 2022/23 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 about $17.7MM more than Donovan Mitchell in ’22/23 despite both stars 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 2022/23 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 2022/23 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. The list below only considers salaries for ’22/23.
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 who have trade bonuses but are already earning the maximum — their salaries for this season can’t increase beyond their max.
The cutoff for a spot on this year’s top-50 list is over $25MM, so 13 players earning $20MM+ didn’t make the cut, led by Knicks forward Julius Randle ($23.76MM, plus incentives) and Hawks big man John Collins ($23.5MM).
Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2022/23 season:
- Stephen Curry, Warriors: $48,070,014
- Russell Westbrook, Lakers: $47,063,478
- LeBron James, Lakers: $44,474,988
- Kevin Durant, Nets: $44,119,845
- Note: Durant’s cap hit includes a $42,969,845 base salary and $1,150,000 in likely incentives.
- Bradley Beal, Wizards: $43,279,250
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $42,492,492 (15% trade kicker)
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $42,492,492 (15% trade kicker)
Paul George, Clippers: $42,492,492
Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: $42,492,492 - Klay Thompson, Warriors: $40,600,080 (15% trade kicker)
- Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves: $38,172,414
- Anthony Davis, Lakers: $37,980,720 (15% trade kicker)
- Khris Middleton, Bucks: $37,948,276
- Jimmy Butler, Heat: $37,653,300 (15% trade kicker)
- Tobias Harris, Sixers: $37,633,050 (5% trade kicker)
- Luka Doncic, Mavericks: $37,096,500
Zach LaVine, Bulls: $37,096,500
Trae Young, Hawks: $37,096,500 - Kyrie Irving, Nets: $36,934,550 (15% trade kicker)
- Note: Irving’s cap hit includes a $36,503,300 base salary and $431,250 in likely incentives. He also has another $718,750 in unlikely incentives.
- Pascal Siakam, Raptors: $35,448,672
Ben Simmons, Nets: $35,448,672 - Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves: $33,833,400 (15% trade kicker)
Devin Booker, Suns: $33,833,400
Kristaps Porzingis, Wizards: $33,833,400 - Jrue Holiday, Bucks: $33,665,040
- Note: Holiday’s cap hit includes a $32,544,000 base salary and $1,121,040 in likely incentives. He also has another $4,752,000 in unlikely incentives.
- Joel Embiid, Sixers: $33,616,770
Andrew Wiggins, Warriors: $33,616,770 - CJ McCollum, Pelicans: $33,333,333
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $33,047,803
- Note: Jokic’s cap hit includes a $32,478,837 base salary and $568,966 in likely incentives. He also has another $568,966 in unlikely incentives.
- James Harden, Sixers: $33,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
- Brandon Ingram, Pelicans: $31,650,600
Jamal Murray, Nuggets: $31,650,600 - D’Angelo Russell, Timberwolves: $31,377,750
- Deandre Ayton, Suns: $30,913,750
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: $30,913,750
Michael Porter Jr., Nuggets: $30,913,750 - Donovan Mitchell, Jazz: $30,351,780 (15% trade kicker)
Jayson Tatum, Celtics: $30,351,780 (15% trade kicker)
Bam Adebayo, Heat: $30,351,780
De’Aaron Fox, Kings: $30,351,780 - Gordon Hayward, Hornets: $30,075,000 (15% trade kicker)
- Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies: $28,946,605
- Kevin Love, Cavaliers: $28,942,830
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics: $28,741,071
- Note: Brown’s cap hit includes a $26,669,643 base salary and $2,071,428 in likely incentives. He also has another $1,035,714 in unlikely incentives.
- Chris Paul, Suns: $28,400,000
- Kyle Lowry, Heat: $28,333,334
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks: $27,733,332 (10% trade kicker)
- DeMar DeRozan, Bulls: $27,300,000
- Al Horford, Celtics: $26,500,000
- Draymond Green, Warriors: $25,806,468 (15% trade kicker)
One player notably missing from this list is Clippers guard John Wall, who exercised a $47,366,760 player option for the 2022/23 season in June, when he was still a member of the Rockets. Wall eventually agreed to a buyout with Houston, but still counts for $40,866,760 against the team’s books this season, and is earning $6,479,000 on his new deal with L.A.
Wall’s combined cap hits would make him one of the top three highest-paid players for 2022/23, so why doesn’t he make the cut? Because he’s not actually earning all that money this season — even if a team doesn’t apply the stretch provision to a player’s cap hit when he’s waived, the player’s payments still get “stretched” across multiple seasons.
That means the Rockets will actually be paying the $40,866,760 they owe Wall across three years instead of just one, which works out to annual payments of approximately $13.62MM. Combining that number with Wall’s new $6,479,000 salary for 2022/23 wouldn’t make him one of the NBA’s top 50 highest-paid players for this season.
Atlantic Notes: Quickley, Durant, Sixers, Raptors, R. Williams
While the addition of Jalen Brunson and the return of Derrick Rose will likely move Immanuel Quickley off the ball in 2022/23, the Knicks guard is making it a priority to improve his play-making abilities this offseason, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post.
“We put a big emphasis on his passing, we’ve worked a lot on his passing out of the pick-and-roll,” Andrew Morant, Quickley’s trainer, told Braziller. “Early pockets, late pockets and finding the corner shooters as he comes out of the pick-and-roll.”
Quickley’s name has come up in trade rumors linking Donovan Mitchell to New York, and it’s very possible that if the Knicks make a play for the Jazz star, Quickley will end up in Utah. However, Morant said he and the former Kentucky standout aren’t paying attention to that trade speculation as they attempt to hone Quickley’s skills this summer.
“I think he’s an asset to the Knicks in terms of if they want to win games, and he [could] be an asset to a lot of teams,” Morant told The Post. “I don’t know what the Knicks are thinking, what they want to do with him or what the situation is. What him and I try to do is be prepared for any situation and any opportunity that comes his way.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Responding to a report that suggested there may be some mutual interest between Kevin Durant and the Sixers, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com evaluates whether or not Philadelphia could put together a competitive trade package for the Nets star. While Neubeck suggests an offer centered around Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, and Matisse Thybulle wouldn’t be “laughable,” he believes other suitors could comfortably top it, given the 76ers’ limited draft assets.
- Damien Cox of The Toronto Star considers whether or not the Raptors should be seriously pursuing Durant, given the way the Nets forward’s recent demands have defied the “traditional owner-management-coach-player hierarchy” and the effect that could have on the culture the team has built in Toronto.
- The Celtics, who have spoken to the Nets about Durant, have made center Robert Williams unavailable in trade talks, sources tell Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.