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Central Notes: Lillard, Nembhard, Thompson

October 23rd, 2024 at 5:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Bucks All-Star point guard Damian Lillard is gearing up for his second season in Milwaukee, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. The 6’2″ vet had a disappointing start to his tenure with the team in 2023/24.

The 34-year-old, on the cusp of his 13th season officially tipping off Wednesday, reflected on his reputation around the league, and how a possible title alongside All-NBA Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo could affect his legacy.

“You would think if I won it, there would be nothing that they could say, but I think people know how f—— good I am,” Lillard said. “People know — at least the people who know what they’re watching — or I wouldn’t have been on the 75th anniversary team. If you’re talking about fans and people that are on TV just randomly saying their opinion, it’s like, ‘All right.’”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

  • Versatile Pacers combo guard Andrew Nembhard has been happy to slot in as an ideal role player in Indiana, happily being toggled between the bench and the starting lineup throughout his two seasons thus far, writes Dustin Dopirak Indianapolis Star (subscriber link). “He’s our Swiss Army knife. He can play point guard when Ty [Tyrese Haliburton] is getting pressured,” backup point guard T.J. McConnell said. “He can be the 2. He can even be the 3 and he can guard any position. He’s been incredible and he continues to get better.”
  • Second-year Pistons wing Ausar Thompson is missing the club’s 2024/25 regular season opener Wednesday night as he continues to recuperate from a blood clot that ended his rookie season prematurely, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Detroit is still waiting for official clearance from the league regarding when Thompson will be permitted to return to action, Sankofa tweets. The 6’7″ swingman appeared in 63 contests for Detroit, averaging 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
  • In case you missed it, the Bulls opted not to sign newly-acquired point guard Josh Giddey to a contract extension in time for the preseason deadline. He will become a restricted free agent next summer.
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Contract Details: Gordon, Moody, Suggs, Green, Sengun, Murphy, More

October 23rd, 2024 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

The three-year veteran extension that Aaron Gordon signed with the Nuggets is worth $103,608,840 in total base salary, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As expected, Gordon is getting the maximum 40% raise on his 2025/26 salary ($22,841,455), with 8% annual raises after that.

Gordon’s is also getting the maximum 40% bump (and 8% subsequent increases) on his $1.2MM in incentives for the ’25/26 season, so they’ll increase to $1.68MM in the first year of the extension and will be worth $5,443,200 in total across the three years of the deal. That means that if the Nuggets forward earns all his bonuses, he could make up to $109,052,040 over those three seasons.

The trade kicker on Gordon’s extension is for just 3%, which represents the lowest percentage of any active trade kicker around the NBA.

Here are more details on some of the contracts recently signed by players across the league:

  • Moses Moody‘s three-year extension with the Warriors actually has a total base value of $37.5MM, rather than the $39MM initially reported. The deal includes $1.5MM in incentives that could push the total value up to $39MM.
  • Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM extension with the Magic starts at $35MM in 2025/26 and has a descending structure. By the fifth year, in 2029/30, Suggs’ cap hit will be just $26.7MM.
  • The exact value of Jalen Green‘s three-year extension with the Rockets is $105,333,333. It starts at $33,333,333, with matching $36MM cap hits in years two and three (the third year is a player option).
  • Alperen Sengun‘s five-year, $185MM extension with the Rockets has an ascending structure, though it doesn’t increase by the maximum allowable 8% per year. It begins at $33,944,954 in 2025/26 and eventually gets as high as $39,036,697 in years four and five. The fifth year is a player option.
  • Trey Murphy‘s four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans begins at $25MM and increases by $2MM annually, getting up to $31MM by year four.
  • The new standard contract Alex Reese signed with the Thunder is a straightforward one-year, minimum-salary deal that is fully non-guaranteed. I’d be a little surprised if Reese lasts the whole season on that contract, but if he does, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2025.
  • Alondes Williams‘ two-way contract with the Pistons is for two years. While it’s pretty rare for a player to play out a full two-year, two-way contract, Detroit could technically keep Williams on his current deal all the way through the end of the 2025/26 season.
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Central Notes: Ball, Giddey, THT, Middleton, Holland, Cavs

October 22nd, 2024 at 1:32pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Bulls point guards will enter the 2024/25 season on expiring contracts. Lonzo Ball is entering the final season of the four-year deal he signed with the team back in 2021, while newcomer Josh Giddey is on track for restricted free agency in 2025 after not coming to terms with Chicago on a rookie scale extension.

Ball will be eligible for a veteran extension throughout the season, but he’s an unlikely candidate for a new deal prior to free agency after missing the past two-and-a-half years. For now, he’s just happy to be back on the court. Head coach Billy Donovan said the plan will be to have Ball play about 14 to 16 minutes against New Orleans in the team’s regular season opener on Wednesday, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).

Giddey was a more viable extension candidate ahead of the season, but he’s not stressed about not completing a deal. He told reporters on Tuesday that he “loves being here” and that the contract situation will “take care of itself,” as Johnson relays (via Twitter).

While Giddey admits that the prospect of an extension weighed on him last season, he doesn’t expect to be distracted by his impending free agency this season. It probably helps that the Bulls specifically targeted him in a trade this past summer, whereas his place in Oklahoma City’s long-term future was always uncertain.

We have more from around the Central:

  • Chicago native Talen Horton-Tucker officially made the Bulls‘ regular season roster, making him the only player on an Exhibit 10 contract this fall to have that deal become a standard non-guaranteed deal. He called it a “dream come true” to be opening the season with his hometown team, tweets Johnson.
  • Bucks head coach Doc Rivers confirmed today that forward Khris Middleton still hasn’t participated in a 5-on-5 scrimmage and won’t play on Wednesday vs. Philadelphia. However, Middleton hasn’t experienced any setbacks in his recovery from offseason ankle surgeries and is considered day-to-day (Twitter links via Eric Nehm of The Athletic). “I would say if this is a playoff game, he’d probably be playing or close to it,” Rivers said.
  • Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has been impressed by rookie forward Ron Holland‘s team-first attitude this fall, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com relays. “The only thing that matters to him is impacting winning,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s important that at his age he understands the intangibles that impact winning. His mindset isn’t, ‘I’ve got to go out and score 30 points, take 30 shots.’ His mindset is, ‘What needs to be done right now to help this team?’ That’s why he’s fit in so well and can fit in with different groups because he has the ability to fill the intangible parts of the game.”
  • After standing pat while most of their Eastern Conference rivals shook up their rosters this summer, the Cavaliers will have to show they can take a step forward in 2024/25 with their current core, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). If the Cavs season ends like ’23/24 did, with a second-round playoff exit, the front office will have more significant decision to make in the 2025 offseason, according to Fedor.
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Pistons Sign Alondes Williams To Two-Way Deal

October 22nd, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially filled their third and final two-way slot by signing free agent guard Alondes Williams to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Reporting on Saturday indicated that Detroit planned to sign Williams. However, the team had to wait for him to clear waivers first. That happened on Monday, two days after he was cut by the Clippers.

Williams, who played college ball for Triton College, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest, went undrafted in 2022 and spent his rookie season with the Nets and their G League affiliate in Long Island. Last August, he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Heat and opened the season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, before signing a two-way contract with the Heat in February and finishing the season on their 18-man roster.

Although Williams has only played 21 total minutes across eight appearances for Brooklyn and Miami at the NBA level, he’s coming off a big year in the G League. In 43 Showcase Cup and regular season appearances for the Skyforce in 2023/24, he put up 20.3 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .499/.369/.742. The 25-year-old also helped the Heat win a Summer League title in July, averaging 12.0 PPG and 4.8 APG with a .480 3PT% in five games in Las Vegas.

Williams was in camp with the Clippers on a non-guaranteed deal, but didn’t secure a spot on L.A.’s regular season roster. The Pistons reached a deal with him immediately after he was waived and have now added a pair of former Heat youngsters in the past two days, having also inked Cole Swider to a two-way contract.

Now that the Pistons have all three of their two-way slots filled, the Magic are the only NBA team that still has a two-way opening. That means 89 of 90 two-way spots around the league are occupied, as our tracker shows.

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Pistons Exercise 2025/26 Options On Four Players

October 21st, 2024 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons have exercised their 2025/26 contract options on Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser, the team’s PR department tweets.

For Ivey and Duren, the options cover their fourth NBA seassons. Ivey, the fifth pick in 2022, will now get a guaranteed $10,107,163. Duren, chosen 13th overall that same draft after the Pistons swung a deal to acquire him, will make $6,483,144 next season.

Both players will either start or be regular second-unit players this season. They will be eligible for rookie scale extensions next summer.

Thompson and Sasser were first-rounders last season. Thompson, the No. 5 pick in 2023, will make $8,775,162 in 2025/26, while Sasser, the No. 25 pick last year, will receive $2,886,431. The Pistons will have until October 31, 2025 to pick up their fourth-year options for ’26/27.

Notably, the Pistons also have a fifth player who has a rookie scale team option for 2025/26: Wendell Moore, acquired over the summer in a trade with Minnesota, would make $4,574,283 if his option is picked up.

While Detroit still has another 10 days to exercise Moore’s option, teams typically announce all of those decisions at the same time, so his omission from today’s press release is a strong indication that option won’t be picked up. Assuming that’s the case, he’d become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

We’re tracking all of the ’25/26 rookie scale option decisions right here.

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Central Notes: Middleton, Winslow, Cavs, Bulls, Ivey

October 21st, 2024 at 10:54am CST by Luke Adams

Bucks forward Khris Middleton isn’t expected to be active for the team’s regular season opener against Philadelphia on Wednesday, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN. Middleton spent the offseason recovering from surgical procedures on both ankles and the team is taking a cautious approach to his return this fall, Charania explains.

Although Middleton recently expressed a desire to play in 70-plus games in 2024/25, it doesn’t come as a major surprise that he’s not quite ready for the start of the regular season. He didn’t appear in any preseason contests and head coach Doc Rivers said on Saturday that the three-time All-Star would need to play 5-on-5 before Wednesday in order to suit up for opening night (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic).

The Bucks haven’t issued any sort of official update on Middleton, but it sounds like he’ll probably be considered day-to-day going forward, with a chance to make his season debut before the end of the month. That’s just my speculation based on comments from Rivers and recent reporting though, so we’ll keep an eye out for more news on the 33-year-old’s status.

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • The Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks‘ G League affiliate, acquired the returning rights to Justise Winslow and Darryl Morsell from the Raptors 905 in exchange for the rights to Wenyen Gabriel, Marques Bolden, and Deonte Burton, plus the No. 15 pick in this year’s G League draft, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links). As Murphy notes, several of those players are currently competing overseas, but Milwaukee signed Winslow to an Exhibit 10 contract during the preseason — securing his rights means he’ll now be eligible for an Exhibit 10 bonus worth $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Herd.
  • The Cavaliers were much better when Max Strus was on the court last season than when he wasn’t, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, who considers in a subscriber-only story how the club will get by without one of its top floor-spacers for the next six weeks while Strus recovers from an ankle injury. Fedor views Dean Wade as the favorite to replace Strus in the starting five, since he’s a solid defender and a strong three-point shooter. Caris LeVert‘s ball-dominant game is a better fit in the second unit, Fedor suggests, while Isaac Okoro is another candidate to play with the starters.
  • Lonzo Ball, Matas Buzelis, and Julian Phillips are a few of the Bulls players whose preseason performances provided reasons for optimism entering the season, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes in his latest stock report. On the other hand, offseason additions Josh Giddey and Jalen Smith and newly re-signed forward Patrick Williams have had up-and-down Octobers so far, as Mayberry details.
  • Jaden Ivey saw his role reduced under Monty Williams last season, but the Pistons guard is once again an offensive focal point under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, says Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). Ivey was the Pistons’ leading scorer during the preseason and earned praise from Bickerstaff for his efforts. “He works his tail off and then he’s playing with confidence,” Detroit’s coach said earlier this month. “When you work as hard as he works and puts as much time in, and then you play with that confidence and belief, the work is going to pay off.”
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Pistons Sign Cole Swider To Two-Way Contract

October 21st, 2024 at 9:49am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the Pistons have filled one of their open two-way slots by signing forward Cole Swider to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Reporting on Saturday indicated that Detroit planned to sign Swider and Alondes Williams to two-way deals after they were waived by the Pacers and Clippers, respectively. Swider cleared waivers on Sunday, while Williams will do so later today, assuming he goes unclaimed.

Swider, 25, played his college ball at Villanova and Syracuse before going undrafted in 2022. He spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Lakers and the 2023/24 campaign on a two-way deal with the Heat, appearing in 25 total NBA regular season games during that time.

Although the 6’8″ forward didn’t see much NBA action in his first two professional seasons, he excelled in the G League. In 21 outings last season for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, he averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on .485/.471/.846 shooting, knocking down an impressive 4.7 three-pointers per contest.

Swider was in camp with the Pacers this fall on a non-guaranteed deal and appeared to have a shot to make the team’s regular season roster. However, Indiana – without much breathing room below the luxury tax line – opted to keep its 15th roster spot open to begin the season, which freed up Swider to join the Pistons.

Swider and Williams will join Daniss Jenkins as Detroit’s two-way players to open the 2024/25 season.

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And-Ones: M. Williams, Rookies, International Prospects, G League Trade

October 20th, 2024 at 7:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Monty Williams will be a head coach after all this season, just not in the pro or college ranks.

Williams has accepted the head coaching job at TMI Episcopal prep school in San Antonio, where he will coach his son Elijah, NBA insider Chris Haynes tweets. The Pistons fired Williams in June just one season after he signed a six-year, $78.5MM contract.

Williams is replacing former NBA forward Bruce Bowen at the San Antonio prep school, Haynes adds in another tweet.

We have more from around the basketball world:

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Pistons Plan To Sign Alondes Williams, Cole Swider

October 19th, 2024 at 5:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons plan to sign Alondes Williams and Cole Swider, who were both placed on waivers this weekend, to two-way contracts, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter links).

Williams, a 25-year-old shooting guard, was released by the Clippers earlier today. He signed a two-way contract with Miami in February and made brief appearances in seven games. He also got into one game with Brooklyn during the 2022/23 season.

Swider, a 25-year-old small forward, was let go by the Pacers on Friday. He spent all of last season on a two-way deal with Miami, averaging 2.3 PPG in 18 games. He played seven games with the Lakers in 2022/23.

Williams and Swider will have to clear waivers before they can sign with Detroit. The 48-hour waiting period means Swider will become a free agent on Sunday and Williams will be available on Monday if they don’t get claimed.

The Pistons currently have 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts, along with Paul Reed, whose $7.7MM salary is non-guaranteed. Daniss Jenkins currently holds the team’s lone two-way deal.

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Wizards, Bucks, Wolves Among Teams Exploring Roster-Trimming Trades

October 19th, 2024 at 11:28am CST by Tristan Tucker

With teams finalizing rosters ahead of Monday’s cut-down deadline, there could be a flurry of activity from teams exploring avenues to keep players on crowded rosters. According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith (Twitter link), several luxury tax teams are exploring moving off salary in an effort to keep other players they like.

While the Wizards aren’t a luxury tax team, they’re one of the many teams looking to make a move before Monday’s roster deadline. As NBA insider Jake Fischer reports (Threads link), the Wizards want to keep Jared Butler around on the 15-man roster. Butler is on a non-guaranteed contract, which made him a release candidate, but he played well in the preseason, averaging 6.8 points and 4.2 assists in 14.3 minutes per game across five outings.

That could lead the Wizards to explore trading or even cutting former No. 10 overall pick Johnny Davis, according to Fischer. The Wizards aren’t expected to exercise Davis’ fourth-year option and while he hit a clutch shot in Friday’s preseason finale, he struggled this preseason and through his two NBA years with shooting efficiency.

However, outright cutting Davis would mean not being able to use his $5.3MM salary to help facilitate trades later down the road. It’s possible Washington agrees to a bigger trade before the beginning of the regular season or considers waiving another player.

As we outlined earlier today, it’s important to note that while most teams will make cuts Saturday, that’s not really an issue for the Wizards. The main wave of cuts today are mostly going to be non-guaranteed contracts and since teams like the Wizards cutting guaranteed salary would be eating dead money anyway, they have until Monday’s deadline to come to a decision.

We have more trade rumors from around the league:

  • The Bucks have informed rival teams of early interest in trading third-year wing MarJon Beauchamp, according to Fischer (Threads link). Beauchamp was the 24th overall pick in 2022 by the Bucks, so their willingness to move him is noteworthy. Across his first two seasons in the league, he’s averaged 4.8 points and 2.1 rebounds. While Fischer suggests the Bucks could be looking to acquire a defensive-minded wing, Smith notes via Twitter that Milwaukee has also expressed interest in re-signing Thanasis Antetokounmpo — moving Beauchamp without taking a player back would open up that opportunity. Antetokounmpo is expected to miss the season while recovering from an Achilles tear, so signing him would be for his locker room presence, which Smith says is “prized” by both the franchise and his brother Giannis.
  • The Timberwolves have looked into trade options for recently acquired forward Keita Bates-Diop, according to Fischer (Threads link). Bates-Diop was rerouted a couple of times this summer, going from the Nets to the Knicks in the Mikal Bridges trade before landing with Minnesota in the Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster. Bates-Diop is set to make just under $2.7MM this season and with the Wolves already about $17MM over the second tax apron, they’d prefer to move off his salary rather than eating it. Moving Bates-Diop is also about finding a way to keep PJ Dozier on the roster. The Wolves have 15 players on guaranteed salaries, plus Dozier on a partially guaranteed deal. Dozier is a favorite of president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
  • Celtics guard Lonnie Walker IV‘s Exhibit 10 status is noteworthy, as he was seen as a bargain signing by the reigning champions at the time, but they have tight finances as a team well over the second apron. Still, Walker’s impressive preseason puts Boston in an interesting position, and Fischer indicates the Celtics have considered keeping him around. If they retained Walker through the season and made no other changes, Boston would have to make approximately $9MM in projected tax payments on top of Walker’s minimum-salary contract due to their position against the second apron. However, that amount isn’t calculated until the end of the season, so the Celtics may explore trading Jaden Springer as late as February’s trade deadline so they can keep Walker, Fischer reports.
    [UPDATE: The Celtics are waiving Walker.]
  • The Pistons may be the primary contact for any team looking to make salary- or roster-trimming trades, Smith notes (Twitter link). The Pistons have an open roster spot and $10.2MM in cap space, putting them in position to accommodate players like Davis, Beauchamp, Bates-Diop or Springer if their teams were willing to attach draft capital.
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