Thunder Decline Muscala’s Team Option, Pick Up Roby’s
The Thunder have declined their 2022/23 team option on Mike Muscala and exercised their option on Isaiah Roby, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links).
Muscala’s option was worth $3.5MM and declining it makes him an unrestricted free agent. Roby’s $1,930,681 contract for next season is currently non-guaranteed, but will become fully guaranteed on July 3, per Smith.
Muscala, 30, had arguably the best season of his nine-year career in ’21/22, averaging 8 PPG and 3 RPG on .456/.429/.842 shooting in 43 games. While those figures are relatively modest, he averaged just 13.8 MPG, so he was quite productive on a per-minute basis.
Ankle surgery in March ended Muscala’s season prematurely, which is why he only appeared in 43 contests last season. Teams looking for a reserve big man capable of making three-pointers (37.7% career) could do worse than Muscala, who will likely be pretty affordable.
In his third season with Oklahoma City, the 6’8″ Roby averaged a career-best 10.1 PPG along with 4.8 RPG on .514/.444/.672 shooting in 45 games (21.1 MPG).
His season was a study in halves, as Roby rarely saw action before the All-Star break (22 games, 15.1 MPG) and spent time in the G League. In the second half of the season when most of the Thunder’s roster was decimated by injuries, Roby averaged 13.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1 SPG and 1 BPG in 23 games, including 20 starts (26.8 MPG).
Wolves Pick Up Team Options On Naz Reid, Jaylen Nowell
The Timberwolves are picking up the 2022/23 team options on Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Both players will earn $1,930,681 next season, and both deals are non-guaranteed. Reid’s contract will become guaranteed on July 20, while Nowell’s guarantee date is in January.
As Krawczynski notes (via Twitter), both reserves were productive last season, but were essentially depth pieces in the postseason, so neither player has a clear-cut standing on Minnesota’s roster going forward. However, head coach Chris Finch recently praised Nowell, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
“We saw in short stints out there what he’s able to do,” Finch said of Nowell. “He’s an x-factor, he’s a game-changer. I think everybody needs that. He has the ability to create his own basket, he has the ability to attack switching. He’s actually an underrated play-maker.”
Finch added that the Wolves wants to find regular minutes for him going forward.
“… But now we’re trying to figure out how to get a role, a more consistent role, for him, and we want him to feel as a part of our young core as anybody else that’s here,” he said as part of a larger quote.
Both Reid, a center, and Nowell, a guard, will turn 23 this summer. In 77 games (15.6 MPG) last season, Reid averaged 8.3 PPG and 3.9 RPG on .484/.343/.765 shooting, with his minutes, points and rebounds all declining from ’20/21.
Nowell averaged 8.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 2.1 APG on .475/.394/.783 shooting in 62 games (15.7 MPG) in ’21/22. Both players are entering their fourth seasons and have spent their entire careers with Minnesota.
Celtics’ Sam Hauser To Become Restricted Free Agent
The Celtics are declining their $1,563,518 club option on Sam Hauser and instead will make him a restricted free agent, a source tells Keith Smith of Spotrac and CelticsBlog (Twitter link).
While Smith doesn’t outright state that Hauser has been given a qualifying offer, that’s the likely outcome given that he says Hauser will become a RFA. According to Smith, Boston plans to work out a longer contract with Hauser in free agency.
Hauser, 24, signed a two-way contract with the Celtics last August after going undrafted out of Virginia. He was promoted to the 15-man roster in February after trades created multiple roster openings.
The 6’8″ forward played limited minutes in 26 NBA games with Boston, but did convert an impressive amount of his three-point attempts (19-44, 43.2%). Hauser was a G League standout for the team’s affiliate in Maine, putting up 20.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.1 SPG on .460/.408/.800 shooting in 13 regular season contest (35 MPG).
Hauser will reportedly be among the young players on Boston’s Summer League roster next month.
Thunder’s Luguentz Dort To Become Restricted Free Agent
The Thunder are declining the $1,930,681 team option on Luguentz Dort, making him a restricted free agent, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).
A report last week indicated that Oklahoma City would pick up the option, with GM Sam Presti telling Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman that was the likely outcome.
“Obviously it’s our plan to exercise that pending anything different,” Presti said.
Evidently Presti has reevaluated that decision, which isn’t very surprising considering Dort would have drawn considerable interest on the open market as an unrestricted free agent in 2023. Declining the option and making him restricted gives the Thunder the ability to match any offer sheet he receives in a free agent market where not many teams have cap space.
The barrel-chested Dort, who turned 23 in April, has showed continuous improvement after going undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019. He averaged 17.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .404/.332/.843 shooting in 51 games (32.6 MPG) last season while playing solid, switchable defense.
Given his rate of improvement and the NBA’s ever-growing need for wings who can contribute on both ends of the court, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dort sign a contract in the range of $15-20MM annually. Dort is ranked No. 9 on our list of top 50 free agents.
Patty Mills Declines Player Option, Becomes Free Agent
Nets guard Patty Mills has declined his $6.2MM player option for next season in order to become a free agent, league sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Mills, 33, had a solid season in his first season with Brooklyn in 2021/22, averaging 11.4 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 2.3 APG on .408/.400/.814 shooting in 81 regular season games (48 starts, 29 MPG). He averaged career-highs in three-point makes and attempts, with 2.8 and 7.0, respectively.
Last season was the 13th of Mills’ lengthy NBA career, spending his first couple of seasons with Portland before a 10-year run with the Spurs that included an NBA Championship in 2014. The veteran guard also led the Australian national team to a Bronze Medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
While Mills isn’t quite as quick as he once was, he holds a career three-point percentage of 38.9% and figures to draw plenty of interest from contending teams. He should receive a contract similar in annual value to the one he declined (taxpayer mid-level exception), but he’ll likely be looking for a multiyear deal to maximize his earnings.
Kings Won’t Give Donte DiVincenzo Qualifying Offer
The Kings won’t tender a $6,602,272 qualifying offer to fourth-year guard Donte DiVincenzo, a league source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and The Kings Beat (Twitter link). As a result, DiVincenzo will become an unrestricted free agent.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirms the news (via Twitter), stating that DiVincenzo is expected to draw “significant interest” as a free agent. Sacramento remains interested in re-signing DiVincenzo despite declining the QO, according to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 (KTXL) (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old had a down season in 2021/22 after returning from ankle surgery last June. He struggled to find his footing in 17 games (20.1 MPG) with the Bucks, averaging 7.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 1.7 APG on .331/.284/.852 shooting before being traded to the Kings at the deadline in February.
He played better in 25 games (26.6 MPG) for Sacramento, averaging 10.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.5 SPG on .362/.368/.839 shooting. While his field goal percentage seems alarmingly low, the majority of his shot attempts came from deep.
It’s a puzzling move for the Kings, who acquired DiVincenzo at the 2022 deadline when they traded away Marvin Bagley III. DiVincenzo would have been a fair value on a one-year, $6.6MM deal if he had accepted his qualifying offer — declining to issue it means the Kings won’t have the ability to unilaterally match any offer given to him.
A versatile defender with a high basketball IQ, DiVincenzo had reportedly grown frustrated with the team a couple of months ago, believing the Kings were attempting to lower the value of his QO by not starting him.
Kings Exercise Trey Lyles’ Team Option
JUNE 29: The Kings have officially picked up Lyles’ option, per RealGM’s transactions log.
JUNE 28: The Kings are expected to exercise Trey Lyles‘ $2.625MM team option for 2022/23, a league source tells James Ham of ESPN 1320 and The Kings Beat (Twitter link).
The 12th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Lyles has bounced between five different teams in his seven NBA seasons, and never really lived up to his status as a former lottery pick. However, he had arguably his best overall season in ’21/22, averaging 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds on .466/.321/.802 shooting across 75 games (20.5 minutes) split between Detroit and Sacramento, so picking up his modest team option was likely an easy decision for the Kings.
Lyles, 26, appeared in 24 games for the Kings last season, including 20 starts, posting a very respectable .489/.365/.851 shooting slash line. He also got to the line at a career-best rate, averaging 3.2 attempts per game on the season in a fairly limited role.
Lyles was part of the trade that sent Marvin Bagley III to the Pistons and Donte DiVincenzo to the Kings at the trade deadline in February. Bagley received a qualifying offer from Detroit earlier today, making him a restricted free agent, but we’re still awaiting word on whether Sacramento plans to tender DiVincenzo a QO.
Sacramento drafted Keegan Murray with the fourth overall pick of the draft last week, and the Kings have Harrison Barnes for the other forward spot, so Lyles is likely to be in a reserve role next season. Given his age and solid production, the power forward should be a decent depth piece as the team attempts to break its long streak of missing out on the postseason.
Lyles will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 once the Kings officially pick up the option.
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Jovic, Heat, Tucker, Magic
The Wizards have two primary objectives entering free agency, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic: Re-signing Bradley Beal, and finding a starting-caliber point guard. Beal is expected to decline his $36.4MM player option to become an unrestricted free agent, and he indicated in both March and May that he was leaning toward re-signing with Washington.
The Wizards can offer Beal a five-year contract worth a projected $247MM+, while the most a rival team could offer him in free agency would be a projected $183.6MM over four years.
On the point guard front, Robbins notes that Washington won’t have any cap space entering free agency, so the team will be limited to the mid-level exception, projected to be worth $44.5MM over four years, and the bi-annual exception, projected to be worth $8.3MM over two years. Given the relatively modest tools at the Wizards’ disposal, Robbins believes finding a trade or a sign-and-trade (Tyus Jones?) might be the only viable pathways to finding a legitimate starter at point guard.
Some trade options that Robbins mentions include Monte Morris and Malcolm Brogdon, among others. He also says the Wizards could try to pry away a member of Orlando’s crowded backcourt, listing Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs as players worth calling about.
Here’s more from the Southeast:
- The Heat selected Serbian forward Nikola Jovic with the No. 27 pick of the draft, and Pat Riley, the team’s president of basketball operations, said he views Jovic as a well-rounded offensive player with room for growth. “I think the overall skillset. When you talk about a player being a complete player, that’s what we’re talking about. How good is that completeness will come with development. What is a complete player, someone who can pass, who can dribble, someone who can run pick-and-rolls and shoot the ball. He’s a long-range shooter, a mid-range shooter. He scores well with the layup. He’ll take the ball and dunk it over somebody. He has those kinds of offensive skills that he can get better at. And then he’ll found out some new things that he’ll be taught where he’ll say, ‘Wow, I can do these things.’ That comes with development,” Riley said, per Heat.com.
- Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explores the options the Heat have to try and re-sign P.J. Tucker. Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke glowingly of Tucker after the season ended, so clearly the Heat value Tucker, but he just turned 37 and the Sixers are considered the frontrunner to sign him in free agency, according to Marc Stein. Chiang writes that if Miami offers Tucker the full mid-level exception, as the Sixers are rumored to be offering, the Heat would be hard-capped at the tax apron of $155MM, and they’d be limited in what they could offer restricted free agent Caleb Martin. Chiang says trying to sell Tucker on his starting role and the success he had with the team might be one route to take, mentioning a slight discount using his Non-Bird Rights (about $26.5MM over three years). However, Tucker has shown an inclination to earn the most he possibly could previously in free agency, so that seems unlikely to work.
- The Magic‘s draft secrecy could provide long-term benefits, according to Terry Gilliam Jr. of The Orlando Sentinel. The Magic kept their intention to draft Paolo Banchero hidden until right before he was selected No. 1 last Thursday, which was all according to plan. “It helps you do business better,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman told Gilliam. “Whatever partners you’re trying to engage with — whether it’s an agent, another team or whomever — they trust you more if they know you can be discreet with managing your information. It’s a smart way to do business. It’s a part of our strategy of success.”
Hornets’ Kupchak On Bridges: “We’re Going To Bring Him Back”
At a press conference announcing Steve Clifford as head coach on Tuesday, Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak sounded pretty unequivocal about the team’s desire to retain Miles Bridges, who will be a restricted free agent once the team tenders him a qualifying offer.
“As an organization, we love Miles. We’re going to bring him back,” Kupchak said (video link via Bally Sports: Hornets). “He’s been great for the franchise and I believe with his work ethic he’s only going to get better.”
Kupchak’s statement is notable because Shams Charania reported last week that rival executives believe Bridges will command a maximum-salary contract or something close to it, and Charania’s sources believe Charlotte may be hesitant to match an offer sheet worth the max.
In an ESPN appearance on Monday, Brian Windhorst said Bridges isn’t receiving a max offer from Charlotte at this point.
“He’s not being offered, from what I am told, a max contract by the Charlotte Hornets right now,” Windhorst said (video link from Talkin’ NBA). “So he’s gonna go out in the marketplace starting on Thursday (or) Friday and see if he can get that offer from somewhere else, so we’re gonna find out.”
When Kupchak signed an extension last month, he said the club wanted to keep Bridges around. “Our intention is to keep Miles long-term, yes. He’s a big part of our future,” he said at the time. Free agency starts in just two days, and Kupchak hasn’t publicly wavered in his commitment to Bridges.
It’s been rumored that the Hornets are trying to gauge the trade market for a number of players to accommodate a new contract for Bridges after the forward had the best season of his career in 2021/22. The 24-year-old posted career-highs in points (20.2), rebounds (7.0) and assists (3.8), along with a .491/.331/.802 shooting slash line in 80 games (35.5 minutes per contest).
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report previously stated the Pacers and Pistons might pursue Bridges, and Marc Stein has heard Detroit is a fan of Bridges as well. However, both of those reports came prior to the draft last week, so it’s unclear if the two Central Division teams are still interested in tying up their significant cap space by signing Bridges to an offer sheet that can be matched by Charlotte, especially given Kupchak’s statement.
NBA Retains Updated Two-Way Contract Rules For 2022/23
JUNE 25: The league’s Board of Governors has formally approved a continuation of last season’s rules regarding two-way deals, Wojnarowski tweets.
JUNE 17: The NBA plans to keep the updated version of the two-way contract for 2022/23, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
Two-way players will continue to earn half of the rookie minimum — projected to be $1,004,159 based on the latest salary cap estimate — so they’ll earn approximately $502K next season, assuming they stay on a two-way deal the entire league year.
Players on two-ways will still be limited to 50 games in the regular season and ineligible for the postseason, per Wojnarowski. In order to be eligible for the playoffs, players on two-way deals need to be converted to a standard contract. A total of 23 players received such a promotion this season, as shown by our tracker.
The league’s board of governors is expected to approve the updated two-way contract rules “in the coming days,” says Wojnarowski, who adds that the changes allow for greater roster flexibility in case of COVID-related interruptions.
The NBA previously approved increased salaries and more regular season games for two-way contracts due to COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the past two seasons. Each team is permitted a couple of two-way spots in addition to its 15-man roster.
Players with fewer than four years of NBA experience can sign a two-way contract with a team. However, teams cannot sign a player to a two-way contract for three seasons. The deals are limited to two years, and can’t include options.
Although two-way contracts can be for up to two years, a player who has three years of NBA experience can’t sign such a deal, since he’d have four years of service after the first season. As such, two-way contracts for players with three years of experience are limited to one year.