Pacific Notes: Lakers, LaVine, Zubac, Suns
As has been covered at length this summer, the Lakers‘ only outside additions to their standard roster this offseason came in the form of draftees Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.
“They’re stuck,” one Eastern Conference executive said of the Lakers, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.
A Western Conference executive who spoke to Woike said the Lakers should consider adding Bulls guard Zach LaVine, who has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time. LaVine’s contract (he’s owed nearly $138MM over the next three seasons, including a 2026/27 player option) has been a holdup in getting a deal done. If the Lakers were to pursue such a trade, Woike points out that it would have to be constructed around D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and either Jarred Vanderbilt or Gabe Vincent to match salary since L.A. can’t take in more than it sends out.
The downside would be LaVine’s injury concerns and his questionable fit in a role that would require more from him on defense and less on offense. However, Woike doesn’t get the sense the Lakers are all that interested in LaVine, suggesting that they’re more concerned with seeing how a roster with more continuity performs. Additionally, Woike reasons the Bulls could stand to hold LaVine and try to rebuild his value this season.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Clippers center Ivica Zubac received a 5% trade kicker as part of his three-year extension, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). That means if Zubac is traded, he’d be eligible for a bonus worth 5% of the remaining salary on his contract. The highest percentage allowed on a trade kicker is 15%.
- Despite being one of the most efficient three-point shooting teams in the league, the Suns only ranked 25th in attempts, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports writes. That should change in 2024/25, with Tyus Jones, Monte Morris and a healthy Damion Lee among players who could help in that regard. Bourguet runs through several statistical red flags the Suns should look to address under Mike Budenholzer, including how they attack the rim and playing more in transition.
- In a similar article for PHNX Sports (subscriber link), Bourguet outlines one area for improvement for every player on the Suns‘ roster, excluding rookies and two-way players. For my money, it’ll be interesting to see how Bradley Beal continues to adapt to being an off-ball third option. His scoring decreased last season (to 18.2 PPG) as he played fewer than 60 games for the third straight season. If he’s fully healthy, it will be intriguing to see if he can resemble the form of the player who recorded back-to-back 30 PPG seasons from 2019-21.
G League Notes: Simpson, Boeheim, McGowens, More
The Hornets‘, Pistons‘, Spurs‘ and Thunder‘s G League affiliates completed a four-team trade, according to a release (Twitter link) and the G League transactions log.
In the trade, the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets) obtained the returning player rights to both Zavier Simpson and Caleb McConnell. The Motor City Cruise (Pistons) acquired RaiQuan Gray‘s rights, along with OKC’s 2025 second-round pick. The Austin Spurs got the rights to Nathan Mensah while the Oklahoma City Blue obtained Buddy Boeheim‘s.
Acquiring a player’s returning G League rights doesn’t necessarily mean that player will suit up for his new team. These trades ensure that if a player signs an NBAGL contract, he will play for the club that acquired his rights. When deals occur at this point in the offseason, they’re often precursors to players signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the parent club, lining them up to receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they’re waived and then spent at least 60 days in the G League.
This deal appears to be for exactly those purposes, at least in part. Mensah and Boeheim reportedly agreed to training camp deals with the Spurs and Thunder, respectively, so these trades indicate those agreements will be completed soon. Mensah played in 25 games for the Hornets last season, averaging 1.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest. Boeheim played two seasons with the Pistons, appearing in 20 games and averaging 2.5 PPG.
The other names in the trade are interesting. Simpson played in Summer League with the Hornets but previous reporting from HoopsHype indicated he was set to head overseas this season. He may very well still be doing that, but Charlotte clearly likes him. Gray, meanwhile, was traded while on a two-way contract to the Bulls before being waived.
Simpson has 11 games of NBA experience, averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 assists. McConnell, a former Rutgers player, also played for Charlotte in Summer League. While he hasn’t yet appeared in an NBA game, he suited up for 47 G League contests and averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last season. Gray played parts of two seasons with the Nets and then Spurs, averaging 9.8 points in his four games.
We have more from the G League:
- The Cruise and Spurs participated in another multi-team trade, with Motor City acquiring the rights to Javante McCoy and Reggie Kissoonlal along with unspecified draft capital, according to the log and a team release (Twitter link). Austin obtained the rights to Isaiah Miller and Jaylen Johnson, while the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz) got a 2025 first round pick and Jayce Johnson. None of those players have yet agreed to sign Exhibit 10 deals, but as teams start fielding their training camp rosters, they’ll be names to monitor. All players involved have previously participated in training camps with NBA teams.
- The Long Island Nets and Cleveland Charge completed their own trade, with the rights to Trey McGowens heading to Cleveland in exchange for Tray Maddox‘s rights (Twitter link). McGowens signed an Exhibit 10 with Brooklyn last season and averaged 10.1 points in 16 G League games last season. Maddox, a Western Michigan product who went undrafted in 2023, averaged 6.1 PPG last season for the Charge.
- In case you missed it, Lonnie Walker IV signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics and may end up playing for their G League affiliate this season, at least to begin the year.
Tim Connelly Talks Wolves’ Aspirations, Gobert, Roster, More
The Timberwolves took off in 2023/24 as their young pieces showed tremendous growth and their core took a step forward together. In an interview with Darren Wolfson of KSTP, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said he’s proud of what the team accomplished last season.
“We don’t want to be [in] a zero-sum game,” Connelly said. “It’s not one winner and everybody else is losers. We had goals — we didn’t reach the ultimate goal, which is to bring a championship to Minnesota. But our team played well. We had some playoff success that has been a long, long time coming and hopefully it’s something we can build upon.”
Connelly spoke extensively on the state of the Wolves’ roster and a few select players. I heavily recommend watching the interview in full, but here are some of the highlights:
On where the Timberwolves stack up in the Western Conference:
“The West is so brutal, it [depends on] a shot here, a shot there, who’s healthy. So much is [based on] matchups and health. We just want to continue to be at the big table. As long as we internally grow and keep holding ourselves to the highest standards, we’re pretty excited about the season.”
On conflicting accounts that surfaced during the Olympics regarding Rudy Gobert‘s health:
“I think Rudy’s good. He had a finger injury but I think he’s good to go.”
On whether the team wants to extend Gobert:
“We’d like Rudy to be here for a long time. We love his agent, he’s been a friend for a long time and is one of the best guys in the league. And certainly our goal with most of these guys is to keep them here as long as they want to be here. … Ideally, I think continuity is going to be one of the better strengths we have going into the season and we really like our core group.”
On how much rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. will play:
“We don’t want to put too much on any young guy’s shoulders, but we’re gonna put a lot on their shoulders. Obviously, they’re going to have to prove they’ve earned those minutes. But where we are, we’ve become a pretty expensive team, so we’re going to have to find some spots for these young guys. We know it’s not always going to be pretty, but most importantly they buy into [Wolves head coach Chris Finch] … We’re not expecting perfection, we’re just expecting a commitment to do things the way we do them.”
On the team’s work ethic this offseason:
“Our gym’s been fantastic, we’ve had 11, 12 guys here all summer. This week, we told the guys to get out of town. It’s really exciting when you don’t have to beg guys to come back to the city. And I think everybody kind of got a taste for it last year and hopefully we can build upon it.”
On who will fill the backup point guard position:
“It’s up to [Finch]. Certainly, we think [our] guys are capable. [PJ Dozier] played full-time point last year in Europe. We drafted [Dillingham] to give him a real opportunity to earn minutes early on and we’re pretty confident he can do that. Again, nothing’s given. I think the depth and the competitive nature of our depth is what helped us get through some tough times the last couple of years.”
On the possibility of filling their open 15th roster spot:
“We could. There’s some flexibility there. We want to be cognizant of where we are relative to the tax. We also want to be cognizant of where we are health-wise going into the season. Of course we’ve talked about it, if the right player is there, we would fill it. But at the moment, we’re gonna sit tight and see what September looks like. I think there will be another deal-making window too where maybe a guy shakes out that we didn’t think would be available.“
Southwest Notes: Green, Tate, Grizzlies
Jalen Green was having a solid season until March, averaging 17.9 points per game while shooting 40.4% from the field. He had made some strides on the defensive end but still hadn’t exploded onto the scene as a former No. 2 overall pick, Joe Wolfond of TheScore.com writes.
That was until March, when Green then averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per night while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.0% from beyond the arc in his final 23 games of the season. As Wolfond notes, it wasn’t empty production during the late part of the season, as the Rockets went 13-2 in March.
Green hasn’t yet been extended, however, and reports of Houston’s interest in Kevin Durant or other potential superstars down the line make it seem like the team is open to shaking up the core. As Wolfond writes, this season will be instrumental in determining whether the Rockets will or should commit long-term to the duo of Alperen Sengun and Green, as well as what sort of role Green will carry into the future.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- It might be hard for Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate to find minutes in 2024, with Tari Eason returning from injury and serving as the primary forward defender off the bench, Rahat Huq of Forbes writes. Tate might crack the rotation if he’s able to become a more reliable shooter in his age-29 season. However, the Rockets brought him back along with the likes of Jock Landale and Jeff Green and could combine salaries of some of their lower-minutes players (around $28MM) to match contracts in trades.
- By waiving Mamadi Diakite, the Grizzlies are preserving their 15th roster spot for future flexibility, Damichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. The club could use that spot for a depth piece in the event of injuries or could leave it open until later in the season to ensure team salary doesn’t surpass the luxury tax line.
- In case you missed it, Matt Ryan is re-joining the Pelicans on a restructured deal for training camp but it does not contain Exhibit 10 language. The contract is a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary Exhibit 9 deal. That means his deal can’t be converted to a two-way contract. The Pelicans’ standard roster stands at 15 players.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Anthony, Sixers, Thomas
The Knicks are facing much higher expectations in 2024/25 than in most recent seasons, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post writes. New York is projected to finish second in the East by most sportsbooks after the team acquired Mikal Bridges via trade this offseason. Their over/under for regular season wins is set at 53.5 by BetMGM and FanDuel despite New York only surpassing 53 wins in a season once since 1997.
On top of adding Bridges, the Knicks are set to be healthier to open next season with Julius Randle back in the fold.
“It’s nice to hear that we’re contenders, but I think we have to go into training camp without having that word be spoken,” star guard Jalen Brunson said. “Obviously, I said I want to get past the second round after getting there two straight years. But we can’t just go into the season and jump right back into the second round. We’ve got to go back and start all over again.”
While the Knicks are in prime position to make it to at least the conference finals, they still have some obstacles to overcome, Bondy writes. For one, they’ll need to be healthier after missing several members of their rotation in the ’23/24 postseason. They’re also not the only Eastern Conference team that improved in the offseason, meaning the playoff competition could be stiffer next spring.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony revealed on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast that he was offered an end-of-bench role by New York in 2022 (YouTube link). “We sat down and had a real conversation. ‘Listen, here’s a spot. You can be on the team tomorrow, but this is the spot,” Anthony said. The 10-time All-Star explained that he always had a goal of returning to New York, but after a handful of successful sixth-man seasons with the Lakers and Trail Blazers, Anthony didn’t want to be relegated to the end of the roster. “The not knowing of when you’re going to play and not play—I’d rather not go through that,” Anthony said. “I’mma bow out gracefully. … Basketball ain’t the issue. I can’t do that. That’s a hell of a decline. When I look at it overall, the overall big picture, that’s a hell of a decline. So I just had to stand on that. No disrespect, but I can’t accept that.“
- A city-sponsored impacts study intended to guide decision-makers regarding the Sixers‘ plan for a new downtown arena was released on Monday, per Jeff Gammage and Sean Collins Walsh of The Philadelphia Inquirer. According to the report, the proposed 18,500-seat arena would generate about $1.8 billion in additional economic activity during its construction and planned 30 years of operation. The study showed the arena could cause indirect housing displacement through gentrification. Additionally, concerns were raised about impact on transit, a lack of outdoor spaces at the arena and a disparity between the actual amount of new concerns the venue would be able to hold.
- Isaiah Thomas established himself as a key figure in Celtics history after a pair of All-Star seasons and a year in which he averaged 28.9 points per game. However, his exit from Boston was a rocky one after he was traded following a postseason in which he battled through a hip injury and the death of his sister to play for the team. Thomas further explained the situation on the Knuckleheads Podcast (YouTube link). “When I got traded to Cleveland, I was upset because at that point, I put my career on the line for something you could have just broken down to me and told me, ‘If you do play, or if we do this, it could possibly be what it happened to be,’” Thomas said (hat tip to HoopsHype). “It took me three years to really get back to who I am and figure out what was going on. But it was a tough situation. It was a learning experience for myself. I got real love for Boston and everybody in that organization, but it was definitely the wrong way to go about things.” Thomas said that nobody was there to explain that if he played, his could have jeopardized his career by worsening the injury.
Suns Waive Nassir Little, E.J. Liddell
AUGUST 27: The cuts are official, according to PHNX Sports’ Gerald Bourguet (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents if they clear waivers later this week.
With just one year of service, Liddell is eligible for a two-way contract with any team besides the Suns. Little, with five seasons of experience, is not two-way eligible.
AUGUST 21: The Suns are waiving forwards Nassir Little and E.J. Liddell, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players will become unrestricted free agents.
Liddell being waived doesn’t come as much of a surprise. He looked like the odd man out for the projected 15-man regular season roster after the Suns acquired him a few weeks ago in a salary dump of David Roddy.
The former Ohio State forward missed his rookie season due to an ACL tear, but played in eight games with New Orleans last season. He was sent from the Pelicans to the Hawks in the Dejounte Murray trade this offseason before being rerouted to Phoenix.
Liddell is still just 23 and had a tremendously impressive junior season in college before his injury (19.4 PPG, 2.6 BPG, .374 3PT%) and he played well in the G League last year, averaging 17.3 points per game). The No. 41 overall pick from the 2022 draft is a candidate to catch on elsewhere.
Little being waived is more surprising, since he’s owed $21.75MM over the next three years and seemed like a candidate to be traded for salary-matching purposes down the line. However, the Suns will instead use the stretch provision in removing him from the roster.
There were rumblings in July that Phoenix cutting Little was a possibility. As Charania writes, the Suns moved forward with that plan in order to open up a roster spot and to create more flexibility for signings or trades.
A former first-round pick, Little wasn’t a huge part of Phoenix’s roster last season, averaging 3.4 points in 45 appearances. He was acquired from the Trail Blazers in last September’s three-team Damian Lillard trade after spending the first four years of his career in Portland. In 237 career games, Little holds averages of 5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. The 25th pick in the 2019 draft, Little is still just 24 and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn another guaranteed contract down the line.
In addition to creating more roster flexibility, the Suns are now better positioned to give Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro an opportunity to earn immediate minutes, according to Charania, who notes that the team is high on both rookies (Twitter link). Phoenix landed Dunn 28th overall and Ighodaro at No. 40 in June’s draft.
With Little and Liddell waived, the Suns have 14 players on standard contracts and three players on two-way deals, so their opening day roster looks to be mostly set.
The Suns had until Aug. 31 to waive Little and stretch his contract through 2030/31 while reducing his $6.75MM cap hit this season. Under the stretch provision, his remaining salary will be paid over twice the number of seasons remaining on his contract, plus one year. Because he had three years left on his contract, Little’s remaining $21.75MM will be paid out equally over the next seven seasons (through ’30/31), for an annual hit of about $3.1MM.
While reducing their team salary by $3.65MM might not seem worth it at face value, given the long-term impact, the Suns are drastically reducing their tax burden by moving Little. They’re over $36MM over the second tax apron, so the tax savings on that $3.65MM will be significant. Based on their current payroll, stretching Little’s salary will save the Suns approximately $40MM in tax penalties across the next two seasons, tweets John Hollinger of The Athletic.
And-Ones: Sophomores, PFs, Title Favorites, 2025 Cap Room
The 2023 draft class was a massive success, with rookies like Victor Wembanyama and Brandon Miller looking like stars for their respective teams. The depth and variety in last season’s rookies was noteworthy, with some like Jaime Jaquez and Brandin Podziemski impressing for playoff contenders as later and older draft picks, while others like Amen Thompson and Dereck Lively shouldered big minutes as younger players.
That doesn’t even factor in Chet Holmgren, who missed what would have been his rookie season in 2022/23 with an injury. In most years, the competition between Wembanyama and other rookies would’ve been nonexistent, but Holmgren stepped forward as another star rookie who helped the Thunder secure the No. 1 seed.
In an article for ESPN+, Jeremy Woo takes a look at and ranks the NBA’s 10m most interesting sophomores. Woo’s list is subjective, so he didn’t include players like Jaquez, Podziemski and Lively since they don’t have as much to gain as others on this list in his eyes, focusing instead on players who hold more intrigue due to their upside
Unsurprisingly, Wembanyama (No. 1), Holmgren (No. 3) and Miller (No. 4) all rank highly. Woo has Houston’s Thompson twin ranking in at No. 2 though, explaining that he has the highest potential of any player on the Rockets and opining that he’s in an ideal situation for his development. Orlando’s Anthony Black also ranks highly as an impact player who has the potential to help shape the Magic’s future.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- After ranking other positions, HoopsHype released their power forward rankings ahead of the 2024/25 season. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the obvious pick at No. 1, but both Zion Williamson (No. 2) and Paolo Banchero (No. 3) rose after successful seasons. GG Jackson came in at No. 22 in the rankings following an impressive rookie season as a second-round pick. Jackson came in at No. 10 on Woo’s list of intriguing sophomores.
- The Celtics rank as an early favorite to become repeat champions after an offseason in which they retained all their key pieces and extended some. However, health and general luck could work against them next season, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report opines. No team has repeated as champs since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, so a Boston repeat is far from a given, even though they had a tremendous offseason. Pincus ranks the top 10 contenders in the NBA and offers arguments against each one winning next year’s title.
- Based on current projections, only the Nets and the Wizards will have enough cap space to offer a max contract next summer, as Danny Leroux of The Athletic observes. Leroux looks over the projected 2025 cap sheets for all 30 teams across the league, identifying the Rockets, Heat and Bulls as some of the more interesting cases in 2025. The Rockets could keep the roster together or might be inclined to part with Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green while opening up as much as $69MM in space. Meanwhile, the Heat’s situation is dependent on what Jimmy Butler wants to do, while the Bulls could create space if they move off Zach LaVine or Nikola Vucevic.
Bucks Sign James Akinjo, Liam Robbins To Exhibit 10 Deals
The Bucks have signed guard James Akinjo and center Liam Robbins, the team announced today in a press release. Both players received Exhibit 10 contracts, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm (Twitter link).
Both Akinjo and Robbins have previously spent time with other teams on training camp contracts but haven’t yet seen regular season NBA action.
Akinjo is a 6’1″ guard out of Baylor who has signed Exhibit 10 deals with the Knicks and Kings, as well as previously spending summer league with the Hawks. He played this summer for the Bucks, appearing in two games and totaling four points in Las Vegas.
Akinjo has played more extensively at the G League level. In 2022/23 with the Westchester Knicks, Akinjo averaged 14.7 points and 7.8 assists per game while making 37.4% of his threes. Last season, he split time between the Stockton Kings and Wisconsin Herd, averaging 9.6 PPG and 4.2 APG in 31 G League appearances.
Robbins, a 7’0″ center from Vanderbilt, signed with the Pelicans on an Exhibit 10 deal last summer but suffered a stress reaction in his fibula and was waived. Before the injury, he seemed like a prime candidate to compete for a two-way contract. He had an impressive final college season at Vanderbilt, averaging 15.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 blocks while shooting 36.5% from three.
Robbins still ended up being allocated to the Birmingham Squadron but was deactivated in January without playing a game in the G League due to his injury.
The Bucks have all three of their two-way contract spots filled, so Akinjo and Robbins will have an uphill climb to make Milwaukee’s roster. By signing Exhibit 10 deals, Akinjo and Robbins will receive bonuses worth up to $77.5K on top of their standard G League salaries as long as they spend at least 60 days with the Herd after being waived by the Bucks.
Milwaukee now has 20 players officially under contract, with Philip Alston also reported to be joining the team on an Exhibit 10 deal.
Nets Notes: Fernandez, Nash, Bogdanovic, Nicholas
The Nets brought in a rookie head coach this offseason in Jordi Fernandez. Fernandez is known for his defensive coaching abilities and player development, but as Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes in a subscriber-only article, he’s planning to increase the offensive tempo for his team.
“I think the main part is playing fast, playing confident,” Jalen Wilson said of Fernandez’s coaching philosophy. “Not being out there settling and not being unsure of anything. But everything at full speed and understanding that you’ve got to attack in everything … whether it’s shooting, dribbling, finding the open teammate, running down the floor sprinting to the corner, those different things.”
The Nets pivoted into a full-fledged rebuild this offseason by moving Mikal Bridges, and they’ll extend minutes to their younger players like Wilson, Noah Clowney, Day’Ron Sharpe, Cam Thomas and more.
“We want to play fast, want to play hard,” Clowney said. “We want to be disruptive. We know we’ve got to be a great defensive team if we want any shot at winning games, and that’s just the reality of it. Nobody’s got to sugarcoat that for us. We understand that.”
We have more from the Nets:
- Speaking to reporters ahead of Goran Dragic‘s farewell game, former Nets head coach Steve Nash spoke on his Brooklyn experience, per Eurohoops.net. Nash said the opportunity in Brooklyn was a unique situation but that he didn’t see himself on the bench long-term. “Coaching was a great experience, [but] I didn’t want to be a career coach,” Nash said. “I don’t think coaching was about to be my career.“
- Four months after requiring wrist surgery, Bojan Bogdanovic is set to be a part of an exhibition game on Sept. 5 in Croatia in honor of Drazen Petrovic. Both Bogdanovic and Petrovic played for the Croatian national team and for the Nets. As Net Income of NetsDaily observes, Bogdanovic’s participation in the event is an indication that he’ll be ready to go for training camp this fall.
- The Nets have hired Drew Nicholas to their scouting department, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Nicholas was the director of scouting for the Nuggets over the past two years.
And-Ones: Sumner, Ingram, Under-Scrutinized Moves
Former NBA guard Edmond Sumner signed a contract with the Sichuan Blue Whales in China, agent Misko Raznatovic announced (via Twitter). Sumner was the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Sumner played five seasons in the NBA, most recently with the Nets in 2022/23. He spent the first four years of his career with the Pacers, averaging 7.5 points per game in ’20/21, his best statistical season. He started in 24 of his 53 appearances that year and looked like a potential long-term fixture with the team.
Unfortunately, Sumner suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out of the entire ’21/22 season. He signed a contract with Brooklyn in the 2022 offseason, averaging 7.1 PPG in 53 games (12 starts). However, he didn’t wind up with the team beyond that and played last season in Lithuania.
In all, Sumner holds NBA averages of 6.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 161 career regular season games (41 starts).
We have more from around the basketball world:
- The market for Brandon Ingram has stalled this offseason as the Pelicans determine whether an extension is viable or whether there’s a trade that makes sense. Attempting to find a solution for the Ingram situation, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a three-team trade involving the Pelicans, Nets and Jazz. In this hypothetical scenario, the Jazz would get Ingram and Day’Ron Sharpe, New Orleans would receive Cameron Johnson and Walker Kessler, and the Nets would acquire John Collins, Brice Sensabaugh and a 2025 first-round pick (the more favorable of Cleveland’s and Minnesota’s picks, from Utah). Pincus reasons that while acquiring Ingram could endanger Utah’s chances at landing a top selection in the draft, he would provide a young running mate on the wing for Lauri Markkanen. Pincus opines that the deal makes sense for the Pelicans because they add shooting and size while the Nets would receive a young prospect and a first-round pick.
- After previously breaking down some offseason moves that flew under the radar, John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a look at some of this summer’s transactions that carry more risk. Hollinger writes that Andrew Nembhard‘s contract worries him, because the Pacers already had him under contract for two more seasons at about $2MM per year. This new contract wipes away the second year, meaning he’s getting $57MM in new money over the following two seasons. Hollinger also expresses concerns with multiple various rookie max extensions, Immanuel Quickley‘s contract with the Raptors, Max Christie‘s deal with the Lakers and Patrick Williams‘ long-term agreement with the Bulls.
- In case you missed it, Goran Dragic‘s farewell retirement game is streaming on the NBA App at 2 p.m. Eastern. Current and former stars like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Steve Nash, and Dirk Nowitzki will be participating.