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Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2025/26

By | at October 5, 2025 8:24 am

For a third straight fall, Lakers star LeBron James will enter the NBA season as the league’s oldest player.

James will turn 41 before the calendar year is over, but he’s not the only NBA player in his 40s like he was a year ago. His good friend Chris Paul, the NBA’s second-oldest player, turned 40 in May, and veteran point guard Kyle Lowry will join that club later in the season — he turns 40 in March.

It’s safe to say that not every player on the list of the NBA’s 10 oldest players will provide the level of production that James – or even Paul – will in 2025/26. Garrett Temple and Joe Ingles are among the players in that group who have transitioned to the “veteran leader” stage of their careers and will likely see limited action this season.

Still, it’s worth noting that Stephen Curry has cracked the list of the NBA’s oldest 10 players for the first time and continues to play at an All-NBA level, while Kevin Durant just missed making the cut (he’s currently the NBA’s 12th-oldest player) and is still putting up gaudy numbers as well.

Before we share the full list, we should also acknowledge that it’s subject to change. A few of the veterans who were on this list a year ago – P.J. Tucker, Taj Gibson, and James Johnson – remain unsigned, but it’s possible they’ll find new NBA homes in the coming days or weeks.

For now, here’s the list of the oldest players in the league heading into the 2025/26 NBA season:

  1. LeBron James, Lakers (born 12/30/1984)
  2. Chris Paul, Clippers (born 5/6/1985)
  3. Kyle Lowry, Sixers (born 3/25/1986)
  4. Garrett Temple, Raptors (born 5/8/1986)
  5. Al Horford, Warriors (born 6/3/1986)
  6. Jeff Green, Rockets (born 8/28/1986)
  7. Joe Ingles, Timberwolves (born 10/2/1987)
  8. Mike Conley, Timberwolves (born 10/11/1987)
  9. Stephen Curry, Warriors (born 3/14/1988)
  10. Brook Lopez, Clippers (born 4/1/1988)

It comes as no surprise that the Clippers and Warriors – the two oldest teams in the league – have multiple players on this list. Beyond these 10 veterans, there are only seven more active NBA players who were born in the 1980s, and three of them are either members of the Clippers or Warriors: Nicolas Batum, James Harden, and Jimmy Butler.

The Timberwolves are the only other club with multiple players among the NBA’s oldest, but Minnesota balances that out by being one of just two teams with a pair of players on the list of the league’s 10 youngest active players, joining the rebuilding Nets. Brooklyn actually just narrowly missed out on having three players in that top 10, with Egor Demin coming in at No. 11.

Here are the 10 youngest players currently on NBA rosters, each of whom was a 2025 draft pick:

  1. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks (born 12/21/2006)
  2. Noa Essengue, Bulls (born 12/18/2006)
  3. Joan Beringer, Timberwolves (born 11/6/2006)
  4. Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans (born 10/14/2006)
  5. Khaman Maluach, Suns (born 9/14/2006)
  6. Ace Bailey, Jazz (born 8/13/2006)
  7. Rocco Zikarsky, Timberwolves (born 7/11/2006)
    • Note: Zikarsky is on a two-way contract.
  8. Kasparas Jakucionis, Heat (born 5/29/2006)
  9. Nolan Traore, Nets (born 5/28/2006)
  10. Ben Saraf, Nets (born 4/14/2006)

Flagg accomplishes the rare feat of entering the NBA as the league’s youngest player after after being selected first overall in the draft. He won’t turn 19 until two months into the regular season. No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper nearly joined him in this top 10, but his March 2, 2006 birth date wasn’t quite recent enough to make the cut.

Outside of the Timberwolves and Mavericks, the NBA’s rebuilding or retooling teams are fairly well represented on this list. One notable exception is the Wizards, who would have multiple players mentioned here if we expanded to a top 15 — Tre Johnson was born on March 7, 2006, while Will Riley was born about a month earlier, on February 10.

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NBA Roster, Contract Deadlines To Watch In October

By | at October 3, 2025 1:46 pm

After a couple relatively quiet months around the NBA, October is full of important deadlines for roster and contract decisions. Here’s our round-up of the dates to keep an eye on this month:

Regular season roster decisions

The 2025/26 regular season tips off on Tuesday, October 21, which means teams must set their rosters for the season by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday, October 20. To be in accordance with regular season roster limits, a team must be carrying no more than 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

While teams have until Oct. 20 to set their regular season rosters, many clubs will make their final cuts on or before Saturday, October 18. That’s the final day that a team can waive a player on a non-guaranteed contract and avoid paying any of his salary.

[RELATED: 2025/26 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team]

Because a player gets paid for the time he spends on waivers, a player who is cut on Monday, Oct. 20 wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, Oct. 22, the second day of the regular season. That means that even if his contract is non-guaranteed, he’d earn two days’ worth of his salary.

Teams who intend to waive players with partially or fully guaranteed salaries are in better position to wait until the Monday before the regular season begins. For instance, if the Nets decide to cut Jalen Wilson, who has an $88,075 partial guarantee, it wouldn’t matter if they do so on October 20 or 22 — he’d receive his $88,075 either way.

However, if the Nets want to waive Tyrese Martin, whose salary is entirely non-guaranteed, they’d likely do so on the Saturday. Waiting until the Monday would mean paying him $25,194 (2/174ths of his $2,191,897 salary).

Two-way contract conversions

A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can have his deal converted into a two-way contract, but only up until Monday, October 20, the day before the regular season begins.

If a player on an Exhibit 10 contract remains on his team’s roster through that Monday without being converted to a two-way, his Exhibit 10 deal would become a standard non-guaranteed contract.

Since most players on Exhibit 10 contracts will be waived on or before October 18, it’s worth keeping tabs on which of them hang onto their roster spots through that Saturday — those players will be good bets to have their deals converted into two-ways or perhaps even to claim a 15-man roster spot.

Contract extensions

The deadline for a player to sign a rookie scale extension is Monday, October 20 at 5:00 pm Central time.

As of Friday, five of the 22 players who were eligible for a rookie scale extension entering the offseason have signed or agreed to one, while a sixth was waived, leaving 16 players who still may be seeking new deals that would keep them off the 2026 free agent market.

Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Nuggets guard Christian Braun, Pistons teammates Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey, and Kings forward Keegan Murray are among the notable rookie scale extension candidates to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

It seems like a safe bet that a few more players eligible for rookie scale extensions will sign them — in each of the past four offseasons (2021 through 2024), at least 11 players have done so.

As for veteran extension candidates, a player who is extension-eligible and who is in the final year of his current contract can sign an extension at any time before or after the regular season begins, all the way up until June 30, 2026.

However, a player who is eligible for a veteran extension but who is not in a contract year will only be eligible to sign a new deal up until Monday, October 20.

For instance, Rockets forward Kevin Durant would remain eligible to sign a veteran extension even after the regular season begins, since he’s in the last year of his current contract. But Heat guard Tyler Herro, who has two guaranteed years left, can only sign an extension up until Oct. 20. After that, he’ll become ineligible to sign a new deal until next summer.

An extension-eligible veteran who holds an option for 2026/27 will remain extension-eligible after the season begins as long as his option is declined as part of any extension agreement, with his new contract replacing the option. A player like Hawks guard Trae Young would fall under this umbrella, since his current deal includes a player option for ’26/27.

Salary guarantee dates

The league-wide salary guarantee date to watch is January 7, 2026. A player on a non-guaranteed contract who isn’t waived by that date and doesn’t clear waivers before January 10 will have his 2025/26 salary become fully guaranteed.

However, certain players have contracts that call for them to receive partial or full guarantees at the start of the regular season. Our list of early salary guarantee dates shows which players fall into that boat, with Sixers big man Adem Bona, Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr., and Hornets center Moussa Diabate among the candidates to have their salaries for this season become fully guaranteed.

Rookie scale team option decisions

A team that wants to exercise its 2026/27 third- or fourth-year option on a player on a rookie contract must do so on or before Friday, October 31.

As our tracker shows, the Bulls, Heat, and Suns have already made their option decisions, while the Bucks don’t have any to make. But the NBA’s other 26 teams will have to pick up or turn down those rookie scale team options for ’26/27 within the next four weeks.

A team that retains a player without exercising his 2026/27 option would put that player on track for unrestricted free agency next offseason. At that point, his team wouldn’t be able to offer him a salary higher than what his option would have been worth, though rival suitors could offer him more than that.

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2025/26 NBA Over/Unders: Central Division

By | at October 3, 2025 11:20 am

With the 2025/26 NBA regular season tipping off later this month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including BetMGM and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2024/25, our voters went 13-17 on their over/under picks. Can we top that in ’25/26?

We’ll continue our series today with the Central Division…

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Milwaukee Bucks

Indiana Pacers

Chicago Bulls

Previous voting results:

Atlantic

  • New York Knicks (53.5 wins): Over (63.2%)
  • Boston Celtics (42.5 wins): Over (52.7%)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (42.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
  • Toronto Raptors (37.5 wins): Over (50.2%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (20.5 wins): Over (54.4%)

Northwest

  • Oklahoma City Thunder (62.5 wins): Over (62.9%)
  • Denver Nuggets (53.5 wins): Over (72.1%)
  • Minnesota Timberwolves (49.5 wins): Over (58.7%)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (34.5 wins): Over (57.1%)
  • Utah Jazz (18.5 wins): Over (55.3%).
8 comments Chicago Bulls Cleveland Cavaliers Detroit Pistons Hoops Rumors Originals Hoops Rumors Polls Indiana Pacers Milwaukee Bucks Over/Unders

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Milwaukee Bucks

By | at October 1, 2025 3:48 pm

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Milwaukee Bucks.

Free agent signings

  • Myles Turner: Four years, $108,868,482. Fourth-year player option. Trade kicker (15%). Signed using cap room.
  • Bobby Portis: Three years, $43,564,242. Third-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Ryan Rollins: Three years, $12,000,000. Third-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Kevin Porter Jr.: Two years, $10,524,700. Second-year player option. Re-signed using room exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Gary Trent Jr.: Two years, $7,579,065. Second-year player option. Re-signed using Non-Bird rights. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Gary Harris: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Taurean Prince: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Jericho Sims: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Thanasis Antetokounmpo: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Cole Anthony: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Chris Livingston: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Amir Coffey: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Cormac Ryan: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired Vasilije Micic from the Hornets in exchange for Pat Connaughton, the Bucks’ 2031 second-round pick, and the Bucks’ 2032 second-round pick.
    • Note: Micic was subsequently bought out.

Draft picks

Two-way signings

Note: The Bucks carried over Jamaree Bouyea and Pete Nance on two-way contracts from 2024/25

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

  • Waived and stretched Damian Lillard ($112,583,016 guaranteed salary over two years)
  • Bought out and stretched Vasilije Micic (gave up $6,109,150 of $8,109,150 salary).

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $174.1MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Portion of room exception ($3,647,000) available.

The offseason so far

NBA free agency has lost some of its luster in recent years, with many of the league’s best players agreeing to extensions well before they hit the open market, while most of the top players who do become free agents simply signing new contracts with their current teams. This offseason, for example, nine of the top 10 free agents on our top-50 list re-signed with their previous clubs.

The one exception in that top 10? Longtime Pacers center Myles Turner, who left Indiana after a decade with the franchise to sign a four-year contract with the rival Bucks.

Turner’s deal with the Bucks was one of the only truly shocking developments of NBA free agency. The veteran big man had been widely expected to stick with the Pacers after they got within one win of a championship, while Milwaukee entered the offseason operating well over the cap and not particularly well positioned to pursue a top free agent.

But the Bucks’ front office had plenty of reason to be bold this summer. The team had just been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for a third straight year, and star point guard Damian Lillard suffered an Achilles tear in the postseason that would almost certainly sideline him for the entire 2025/26 season. Given that Giannis Antetokounmpo had spoke openly in the past about wanting to make sure he can keep legitimately competing for titles, Milwaukee couldn’t afford to essentially waste another year of the star forward’s prime waiting for Lillard to return.

Trading Lillard would have been an option for the Bucks, but with two years and $112.6MM left on his contract, the 35-year-old would have had limited trade value even if he were fully healthy — recovering from an Achilles tear, he was very much a negative asset, meaning that even if Milwaukee attached its lone tradable first-round pick (either 2031 or 2032) to him, acquiring an impact player for Lillard would have been a very tall order.

Lillard’s diminished value – combined with the fact that working out a sign-and-trade with a division rival for Turner would’ve been difficult, if not impossible – spurred the Bucks to go to extreme measures to create the cap room necessary to sign the longtime Pacer. A series of transactions was necessary in order to open up that room, including trading for Vasilije Micic for the sole purpose of buying him out, but the major move that ultimately got them over the goal line was using the stretch provision on Lillard’s contract, spreading the $112.6MM still owed to him across the next five seasons and reducing his 2025/26 cap charge by more than $31MM.

It was an unprecedented move (at least until a couple weeks later, when the Suns pulled off something similar with Bradley Beal), but one that made sense for a Bucks team desperate not just to head off a possible Antetokounmpo trade request but to get the two-time MVP some help while he’s still at the top of his game.

Sure, it’s not ideal that Milwaukee will still be carrying $22.5MM annually on its cap for Lillard three or four years from now, but it was a necessary evil to upgrade the roster in the short term. And if this gambit backfires and the team has to shift into rebuilding mode a couple years from now, those dead-money cap hits wouldn’t be as significant an impediment — just look at the current Nets, who have been trying to spend enough in recent weeks to simply reach the minimum salary floor.

This still isn’t a roster without holes, but in Turner, the Bucks now have a younger, more athletic, and more versatile version of Brook Lopez, the team’s former starting center who left for the Clippers this summer. Lopez’s ability to stretch the floor on offense and to protect the rim on defense – two things Turner can do very well too – were major factors in Milwaukee’s success in recent years.

And because the Bucks didn’t have to trade a first-round pick to move off of Lillard’s massive contract or to acquire Turner, they still have some trade ammunition in their back pocket to search for a mid-season deal that would further upgrade the roster.

After going under the cap and then using up all their room to sign Turner, the Bucks had limited flexibility to fill out the rest of their squad this offseason, but they took advantage of their remaining rights on their own free agents while also making a handful of savvy minimum-salary signings.

Big man Bobby Portis was re-signed using his Bird rights; point guards Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. were brought back using their Early Bird rights and the room exception, respectively; Gary Trent Jr. returned to Milwaukee on a Non-Bird contract; and Gary Harris, Taurean Prince, Jericho Sims, Cole Anthony, Chris Livingston, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo all received minimum-salary deals from the Bucks.

Many of those players were members of last year’s team that was ousted in the first round of the postseason, but there’s a belief in Milwaukee that younger players like Rollins and Porter are capable of taking another step forward in regular, full-season roles, and that newcomers like Anthony, Harris, and especially Turner can help make the Bucks a more well-rounded team. We’ll see if that belief pays off.

Up next

The Bucks are carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries for 2025/26, but they also have Andre Jackson Jr. on a partially guaranteed deal and Amir Coffey – a productive rotation player for the Clippers last season – on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal. In other words, those 15 roster spots likely aren’t set in stone yet, a fact that general manager Jon Horst acknowledged on media day earlier this week.

If the Bucks do trade or waive someone with a guaranteed contract in order to clear space to hang onto Jackson and/or Coffey, the players most at risk would likely be 2023 second-round pick Livingston and 2024 second-rounder Tyler Smith. Neither Livingston nor Smith has earned regular rotation minutes yet, and neither one is owed guaranteed money beyond this season.

If we were evaluating the roster purely based on projected performance, Thanasis would be a logical release candidate as well, but it’s hard to imagine the Bucks waiving Giannis’ brother while they’re doing all they can to convince him to remain in Milwaukee long-term.

Speaking of which, while it was good news that Giannis didn’t seek a change of scenery this summer, his comments on media day – confirming he weighed his options during the offseason and saying he didn’t remember a meeting with governor Wes Edens in which he reaffirmed his commitment to Milwaukee – probably won’t shut down speculation about his long-term future with the organization.

As long as no trade request comes, the front office likely won’t be all that bothered about outside chatter, but Antetokounmpo’s remarks were a far cry from fellow NBA MVP Nikola Jokic talking about his plan to “be with the Nuggets forever.” The simplest way to ensure Giannis conveys a similar sentiment a year from now will be for the Bucks to win.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see what happens with Kyle Kuzma this season. The veteran forward scored a career-low 14.8 points per game and made just 30.7% of his three-pointers in 2024/25. He’ll need to be better for Milwaukee to have a shot at contention in ’25/26. Even if he is, Kuzma could be a prime trade candidate, since he’s one of the only players on the roster earning more than about $5MM this season.

Kuzma is eligible for a contract extension before the season begins, but I don’t expect him to get a new deal at this point — it’s more likely we hear mid-season chatter about the Bucks gauging the trade value of Kuzma and their lone tradable first-round pick.

The more logical extension candidate on the roster is fourth-year sharpshooter A.J. Green, who will remain eligible for a new deal all season long if he doesn’t reach an agreement within the next few weeks. The 26-year-old more than doubled his minutes per game to 22.7 last season while registering a career-high three-point percentage of 42.7%.

Although Green’s counting stats (7.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game) don’t jump off the page, he’s a reliable shooter and solid defender who fits well next to Antetokounmpo. As long as the price isn’t exorbitant, working out a new contract with him would make a lot of sense for Milwaukee.

3 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Milwaukee Bucks Offseason Check-In

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Utah Jazz

By | at September 30, 2025 10:40 am

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Utah Jazz.

Free agent signings

  • Mo Bamba: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Steven Crowl: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Matthew Murrell: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Walter Clayton (No. 18 pick) from the Wizards in exchange for the draft rights to Will Riley (No. 21 pick), the No. 43 pick in the 2025 draft, either the Heat’s or Pacers’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), and the Jazz’s 2032 second-round pick.
  • Acquired Jusuf Nurkic from the Hornets in exchange for Collin Sexton and either the Jazz’s or Clippers’ 2030 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).
  • Acquired Kyle Anderson (from Heat), Kevin Love (from Heat), the Clippers’ 2027 second-round pick (from Clippers), and cash ($2.5MM; from Clippers) in a three-team trade in exchange for John Collins (to Clippers).
  • Acquired Georges Niang, either the Celtics’ or Magic’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) and either the Celtics’ or Cavaliers’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) from the Celtics in exchange for RJ Luis (two-way).

Draft picks

  • 1-5: Ace Bailey
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $41,209,782).
  • 1-18: Walter Clayton
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $19,324,472).
  • 2-53: John Tonje
    • Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

  • John Tonje
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
  • Oscar Tshiebwe
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Note: The Jazz carried over Elijah Harkless on a two-way contract from 2024/25; they also signed RJ Luis to a two-year, two-way contract, but traded him to the Celtics later in the offseason.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $171.5MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.

The offseason so far

At his introductory press conference as the Jazz’s new president of basketball operations in June, Austin Ainge was asked about the team’s tanking efforts during the second half of the 2024/25 season and unequivocally stated that you “won’t see that” again in ’25/26.

However, as I wrote at the time, Ainge’s comments didn’t seem to point toward a team ready to add win-now help to try to move up the standings. The tanking he was specifically ruling out was the kind that involves manipulating players’ minutes — for instance, not using optimal lineups during crunch-time situations, or holding veterans out of games due to injuries that they’d typically play through if the team were in the playoff mix.

But if we define tanking more broadly as a front office not trying all that hard to build a roster capable of winning games in the short term, the 2025/26 Jazz will absolutely fall under that umbrella. And you can make a strong case that’s the right play for the organization in the long term.

After all, the Jazz will have to send their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it lands outside the top eight. If it lands inside the top eight, Utah would keep that first-rounder and would no longer owe Oklahoma City any draft pick. For a team that still doesn’t have a surefire long-term franchise player on its roster, taking one more shot at a high lottery choice makes a lot more sense than pushing for a play-in spot and potentially giving up that first-round selection.

So, despite entering the offseason with one of the NBA’s most favorable salary cap situations, the Jazz essentially sat out of free agency. They completed three Exhibit 10 signings, including one with former lottery pick Mo Bamba, but didn’t hand out a single dollar of guaranteed money to a free agent.

And while the Jazz hung onto forward Lauri Markkanen and center Walker Kessler, the two most valuable established building blocks on the roster, they spent the summer purging the roster of most of their other productive veterans.

Jordan Clarkson, who won a Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021 and had averaged 17.5 points per game since being traded to the Jazz in 2019, was bought out of his expiring $14.1MM contract, clearing a path for him to sign a minimum-salary deal with the Knicks.

Collin Sexton, the team’s third-leading scorer in 2024/25 with an average of 18.4 points per game on an efficient .480/.406/.865 shooting line, was traded to Charlotte along with a future “most favorable” second-round pick in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic.

That deal with the Hornets was a surprising one from a value perspective, since Sexton and Nurkic are on nearly identical expiring contracts in ’25/26 and Nurkic’s playing time and production dropped off last season. Given that Sexton was Utah’s most valuable guard in ’24/25, it’s hard to view the trade as anything other than a gambit to open up more playing time for the club’s backcourt prospects. And if the development process for those younger guards is up and down, resulting in fewer Jazz wins in the short term, that’s probably just fine with the front office.

The Jazz also sent John Collins to the Clippers in a three-team trade that netted them Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love, a second-round pick, and cash.

It was a relatively modest return for Collins, who put up 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game on .527/.399/.848 shooting last season, since his $26.6MM salary made him a little tricky to move. But at least in this case, Utah created significant cap savings (Anderson and Love combine to earn just $13.4MM) and acquired a future second-rounder instead of giving one up. It also wouldn’t be shocking if the Jazz are able to flip Anderson for positive value at the trade deadline, though Love will likely just be waived or bought out at some point.

Utah’s one trade for a veteran involved forward Georges Niang, a sharpshooter who played some of the best basketball of his career in Atlanta during the second half of last season. The Jazz acquired him from Boston, though that deal was more about the two second-round picks attached to Niang than the player himself — like Anderson, he’s a candidate to be flipped before February’s deadline if Utah can get a decent return.

While vets like Nurkic, Anderson, Love, and Niang are unlikely to have long-term stays in Utah, the Jazz did add a pair of players on draft night that they hope will remain in the organization for years to come. The team used the fifth overall pick to draft Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, then traded up to No. 18 to nab Florida guard Walter Clayton.

The front office deserves kudos for rolling the dice on Bailey, whose camp was reportedly pushing hard for him to end up elsewhere (Washington was believed to be his preferred destination). While there was some brief post-draft speculation about whether or not Bailey would report to Utah, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t give rookies much leverage to hold out, so it came as little surprise when the No. 5 pick confirmed he’d be joining the Jazz and said all the right things about his new home.

Bailey has more upside than any player in the 2025 draft class not named Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper, and you could even find several talent evaluators around the NBA who were higher on Bailey entering draft night than at least one of those two top picks. He’s not a sure thing to become an All-Star, but he’s exactly the sort of high-ceiling player the Jazz should be taking a shot on after not identifying an obvious star in either of the last two drafts.

As for Clayton, his ceiling isn’t as high as Bailey’s, but he was the leader of a Florida team that won a national title in 2025 and will bring some championship experience to a team that won just 17 regular season games a year ago.

At age 22, Clayton is older than incumbent Jazz guards Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier and figures to push those players for backcourt minutes this fall. It wouldn’t be a shock if he usurped either of them on the depth chart this season, especially after the Jazz gave up three future second-round picks to move up three spots to draft him — Clayton was clearly a prospect the front office specifically targeted.

Up next

While a buyout of Love has long been expected, it doesn’t seem as if he has his next destination lined up yet, so he likely won’t give up any money until that’s sorted out. A roster spot may not open up for him elsewhere until later in the season — the two teams in his hometown of Los Angeles, for instance, won’t be able to add a 15th man until January based on their current hard-cap situations.

The Jazz could simply waive Love at some point before then, since it’s not like they desperately need to save the couple million dollars he might give up. But there’s probably no urgency to make that move unless Bamba has a great camp and the club needs to open up a roster spot to carry him on the regular season squad. If Bamba and the other camp invitees don’t make the team, Utah can simply retain its current 15 players on guaranteed contracts, including Love.

Although Bamba isn’t eligible for a two-way contract, the other two Exhibit 10 signees – Matthew Murrell and Steven Crowl – would qualify, so if they impress in the next week or two, it’s possible the Jazz will make a change to its two-way slots. While Oscar Tshiebwe and John Tonje signed this offseason, Elijah Harkless is a holdover from last season, which could put his roster spot more at risk.

Finally, Kessler looks like the only legitimate extension candidate in Utah this offseason, but a recent report indicated that the two sides aren’t expected to agree to terms before the season begins.

It sounds like the Jazz would be open to getting something done, but only if the terms are very team-friendly. Otherwise, the club would prefer to head into next offseason with Kessler’s relatively modest $14.9MM cap hold in place of what would likely be a bigger first-year salary on a new extension. That will allow the Jazz to maximize their cap room.

For his part, Kessler acknowledged on media day that the situation is somewhat frustrating. It’s worth noting that the young center has been the subject of trade speculation for the better part of the past two seasons. Utah has set a high asking price that teams have thus far been unwilling to meet, but if the 24-year-old is upset at all by how his contract situation is playing out, could the front office become more open to making a deal before February’s deadline? I’m not sure that’s likely, but it’s still worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks and months.

2 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Offseason Check-In Utah Jazz

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Chicago Bulls

By | at September 29, 2025 7:33 am

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Chicago Bulls.

Free agent signings

  • Josh Giddey: Four years, $100,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Tre Jones: Three years, $24,000,000. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Caleb Grill: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Grill has since been waived.
  • Mouhamadou Gueye: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Wooga Poplar: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Poplar has since been waived.

Trades

Draft picks

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $174.3MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
  • Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
  • Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
  • One traded player exception available (worth $6,186,573).

The offseason so far

The Bulls underwent some major roster changes during the 2024 offseason, when they sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City and signed-and-traded DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento, and at the 2025 trade deadline, when they completed a three-team blockbuster that send Zach LaVine to the Kings and returned veterans Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and Zach Collins, along with complete control of the team’s 2025 first-round pick.

As a result of all that activity in the previous 12 months, the 2025 offseason was relatively quiet by comparison. With many of the club’s highest-paid players – Huerter, Collins, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Jevon Carter – on expiring contracts in 2025/26, Chicago could have been very active on the trade market, seeking new homes for those guys while potentially taking on some multiyear deals.

Instead, the Bulls hung onto all six of those players, and while they did add some multiyear money to their cap in free agency and on the trade market, the primary order of business this summer was keeping the current roster intact by re-signing their own free agents.

That effort began during the first few hours of free agency on June 30, when the Bulls struck a deal to re-sign Jones to a three-year, $24MM contract that includes a third-year team option. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan repeatedly lauded the veteran point guard during the final months of last season for his high basketball IQ and his knack for making winning plays, so it didn’t come as a huge surprise that the front office made it a priority to re-sign him at a price that makes sense for a backup point guard.

The Bulls’ other top free agent was also a point guard, but it took much longer for the club to reach an agreement with Josh Giddey, one of four restricted free agents whose standoffs extended well into September. Giddey reportedly came into the summer seeking a $30MM annual salary, while the Bulls initially wanted to do a deal in the neighborhood of $20MM per year. The two sides eventually compromised right in the middle — Giddey signed a four-year, $100MM contract that is fully guaranteed, with no incentives or options, and features a flat structure, with annual cap hits of $25MM.

While it’s a little more than the Bulls wanted to pay, it looks like a pretty good deal for the team. Among NBA starting point guards, Giddey’s $25MM annual salary is on the low end, and he should be entering his prime during the next four years, which will be his age 23-to-26 seasons. The former sixth overall pick hit his stride after Chicago traded LaVine in February, averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game with a .500/.457/.809 shooting line after the All-Star break.

With Giddey and Jones back under contract, the Bulls were going to have a major logjam in the backcourt, with White, Dosunmu, and Lonzo Ball also expected to play rotation roles and Carter buried on the depth chart. Rather than bringing them all back, Chicago made an effort to balance its rotation a little by trading Ball straight up to the Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro.

Drafted one spot after No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams in 2020, Okoro – like Williams – hasn’t developed into an impact wing during his first five years in the NBA. But he has shown the ability to be an effective three-and-D rotation player, knocking down at least 36.3% of his outside shots during each of the past three seasons while handling tough defensive assignments in Cleveland.

Okoro has two guaranteed years left on his contract, while Ball’s deal includes a team option for 2026/27, so the trade represented a rare instance of the Bulls cutting into their flexibility for next summer. However, the team still has more than $90MM in expiring player salaries coming off the books in 2026, so the front office will have the ability to go in a number of different directions with the roster at February’s trade deadline and/or next offseason.

Besides Okoro, the one notable newcomer to the roster is 12th overall pick Noa Essengue, an athletic, versatile forward who will be one of the NBA’s youngest players this season — he won’t turn 19 until December. As such, it’s probably not realistic to expect much from Essengue as a rookie, but if he shows some promise and 2024 lottery pick Matas Buzelis continues to make positive strides, the Bulls could have a couple solid building blocks at forward.

Up next

After officially re-signing Giddey last week, the Bulls are at 15 players on guaranteed contracts. They’ve also filled all three of their two-way slots. That doesn’t mean those 18 players are all assured of spots on the opening night roster. Two-way deals, in particular, can be fleeting, since the guaranteed money is so modest and doesn’t count against the cap at all, and there are plenty of trade candidates on the standard roster.

Still, I wouldn’t anticipate major changes to the current group during the preseason. The Bulls are more likely to focus on possible extension candidates, with White, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and Dalen Terry among the many players eligible.

White, who averaged a career-high 20.4 points per game last season and thrived alongside Giddey following the LaVine trade, would be the Bulls’ top extension candidate, but the team is limited to offering him a deal that maxes out at approximately $87MM over four years. He’ll be seeking a more lucrative payday and has reportedly informed the team he doesn’t plan to sign a new contract until he reaches free agency, at which point his maximum contract would increase substantially.

Vucevic also probably isn’t a realistic candidate for a new contract. Many Bulls fans likely expected him to be traded by now, which could still happen by February 5, but even if he plays out the season with the team, the center’s days in Chicago appear numbered.

Terry played a more consistent role in 2024/25, but it doesn’t feel as if he’s shown enough in his first three NBA seasons to warrant a commitment from the team a year ahead of his free agency. Unless he takes another real step forward in ’25/26, he’s at risk of not getting a qualifying offer next summer to make him a restricted free agent.

Huerter and Collins are among the Bulls’ other extension-eligible players, but to me, Dosunmu looks like the only one with a real chance to sign a new contract before opening night. Like White, he faces a limit of about $87MM over four years, but his next deal figures to come in well below that. While he’s a solid defender, Dosunmu is more of a complementary piece on offense, having set career highs with 12.3 points and 4.5 assists per game this past season.

With Giddey and Jones back on multiyear contracts and a potential deal for White on the horizon next July, you could make a case that Dosunmu is more of a luxury than a necessity for the Bulls. But he’s a Chicago native who has been one of this front office’s better draft finds, and locking him up to an extension would give the team some insurance in the event that White doesn’t stick around beyond this season. Dosunmu will be extension-eligible all season long, so there’s no urgency to get something done in the coming weeks, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the two sides begin to discuss a potential deal.

2 comments Chicago Bulls Hoops Rumors Originals Offseason Check-In

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Phoenix Suns

By | at September 26, 2025 9:36 am

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Phoenix Suns.

Free agent signings

  • Collin Gillespie: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Nigel Hayes-Davis: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jared Butler: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Damion Baugh: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • David Duke Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Tyrese Samuel: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Alex Schumacher: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Schumacher has since been waived.
  • Jaden Shackelford: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Shackelford has since been waived.

Trades

  • Acquired Mark Williams and their own 2029 second-round pick from the Hornets in exchange for Vasilije Micic, the draft rights to Liam McNeeley (No. 29 pick), and either the Timberwolves’ (top-five protected), Cavaliers’, or Jazz’s 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
    • Note: The Suns had traded the Hornets their 2029 second-round pick in a previous deal.
  • Acquired Jalen Green (from Rockets), Dillon Brooks (from Rockets), Daeqwon Plowden (two-way; from Hawks), the draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; from Rockets), the draft rights to Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 pick; from Timberwolves), the draft rights to Koby Brea (No. 41 pick; from Warriors), and either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round (whichever is second-most favorable; from Rockets) in a seven-team trade in exchange for Kevin Durant (to Rockets), the draft rights to Alex Toohey (No. 52 pick; to Warriors), either the Warriors’ or Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; to Timberwolves), and either the Suns’ or Rockets’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; to Timberwolves).
    • Note: Plowden was subsequently waived.

Draft picks

  • 1-10: Khaman Maluach
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $27,386,799).
  • 2-31: Rasheer Fleming
    • Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First three years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  • 2-41: Koby Brea
    • Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

  • Koby Brea
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
  • CJ Huntley
    • Two years, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season); second year non-guaranteed (will increase to maximum two-way protection amount on July 10 and to 50% at start of regular season).
  • Isaiah Livers
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

  • Signed Devin Booker to a two-year, $88,762,440 veteran contract extension that begins in 2028/29. Projected value of $145,760,888. Includes second-year player option.
  • Bought out and stretched Bradley Beal (gave up $13,879,830 of $110,794,880 total guaranteed salary).
  • Claimed Jordan Goodwin off waivers from the Lakers.
  • Waived Cody Martin (non-guaranteed contract).

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $187.9MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
  • Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
  • Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $3,628,720).

The offseason so far

The Suns fell short of expectations in 2023/24, their first season with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal on the roster together, earning the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Timberwolves.

But that 49-win season actually looked pretty good in retrospect when compared to the all-out disaster that was ’24/25. Phoenix went just 36-46 last season and entered the offseason as the only NBA team that didn’t make the playoffs, didn’t make the play-in tournament, and didn’t control a lottery pick. The Suns were also the only club that made both a front office and head coaching change this spring, hiring Brian Gregory to replace general manager James Jones and Jordan Ott to replace coach Mike Budenholzer.

Injuries were a recurring problem for the Suns’ “big three,” as Durant missed 20 games in 2024/25 while Beal was sidelined for 29. But the team wasn’t good even when all three players were healthy and available — Durant, Booker, and Beal had a -4.1 net rating during the 667 minutes they shared the court last season. It simply wasn’t the right fit.

That meant the Suns headed into the summer with major decisions to make on all three players. They ended up taking a different route with each one of them, with Booker as the lone keeper. Not only did the Suns hang onto the star guard, but they gave him a maximum-salary contract extension, despite the fact that he still had three years left on his current deal. The new two-year contract will start in 2028/29 and projects to be worth well over $70MM annually, with a player option in ’29/30.

It seemed like an unnecessarily early commitment for the Suns to make, especially on the heels of a dysfunctional season in which Booker’s three-point percentage dipped to 33.2%, one of the worst marks of his career. But with speculation swirling about whether it would be in the organization’s best interests to kick-start a full rebuild, the front office was determined to show it was serious about its stance against trading Booker. With the extension, the Suns made it clear they’re all-in on the four-time All-Star.

Durant, on the other hand, was one of the offseason’s most obvious trade candidates after the Suns initially opened discussions on the star forward prior to February’s deadline. The fact that Phoenix ultimately agreed to terms to send Durant to Houston didn’t come as a real surprise, though the eventual structure of the blockbuster – which expanded to include seven teams in total – was unique.

That transaction combined several separate trade agreements into a single deal, but the Suns’ haul for Durant was ultimately headlined by a handful of pieces: fifth-year guard Jalen Green, veteran wing and professional nuisance Dillon Brooks, and the draft rights to three rookies, led by No. 10 overall pick Khaman Maluach.

In retrospect, the Suns’ decision to trade Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, and four unprotected first-round picks (plus a swap) for Durant at the 2023 deadline looks like a mistake. They were unable to recoup that same sort of value when they flipped him two-and-a-half years later.

But as great as Durant is, he’s entering his age-37 season and is on an expiring contract, so the Suns could’ve done a lot worse this time around. Green has averaged over 20 points per game through his first four NBA seasons and is still just 23 years old; Brooks remains one of the league’s most effective and irritating defenders; and Maluach has a chance to become the team’s long-term answer in the middle. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which the 2027 Rockets feel a similar regret to the 2025 Suns about the package they gave up for Durant.

One thing the Durant deal didn’t do was save the Suns money, which was a problem, since the club had the NBA’s highest payroll in 2024/25, far above the second tax apron. With a retooled roster and no more short-term championship aspirations, Phoenix wasn’t interested in maintaining such a high team salary again and took an extreme measure to address the issue, reaching a buyout agreement with Beal and waiving and stretching the two years and $97MM still left on his contract.

Rather than carrying a cap hit of $54.7MM, Beal now counts for just $19.4MM in 2025/26, a reduction of more than $35MM that nearly moved the Suns out of luxury tax territory altogether. The downside? That $19.4MM in dead money will apply to the team’s cap for each of the next five seasons, through 2029/30, putting a major dent in the front office’s flexibility going forward.

While the Bucks took a similar path with Damian Lillard, Milwaukee used the stretch provision in order to create the cap room necessary to sign Myles Turner. The Suns didn’t have a follow-up move lined up after stretching Beal, which was mostly about saving money. Phoenix does have much more room to maneuver in the short term, but the club has yet to actually take advantage of that newfound flexibility.

Although the Suns’ most significant offseason moves revolved around those three stars, they were active on other fronts too. Notably, they struck a draft-day deal to acquire center Mark Williams from the Hornets in exchange for this year’s No. 29 pick and a future first-rounder. That’s not necessarily an overpay for a 23-year-old center coming off a season in which he averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds, but the timing was a little odd, given that news of the deal broke right around the time the Suns drafted Maluach.

The rookie out of Duke, who turned 19 earlier this month, probably isn’t far enough along in his developmental process to play a major role immediately. Still, it’s hard to believe the Suns view Williams as simply a stop-gap solution at center until Maluach is ready — teams don’t give up multiple first-round picks for players if they don’t envision them as part of their future, and Williams is due to be paid this year or next (he’s currently eligible for a rookie scale extension). It will be interesting to see how the Suns manage their center position going forward.

Outside of Williams and the players they acquired in the Durant mega-deal, the Suns focused on filling out their roster with minimum-salary players. That group includes Collin Gillespie, who got a promotion from his two-way deal to a standard roster spot, and Nigel Hayes-Davis, whom the Suns brought back from Europe for his first NBA contract since he was waived by Sacramento in July 2018.

It also includes Rasheer Fleming, a rookie who was targeted by several teams heading into the second day of the draft before the Suns won the mini-sweepstakes for him by making a trade for the No. 31 overall pick. Getting younger, more athletic, and better defensively was a goal for Phoenix this summer, and drafting Fleming reflected that approach — the former Saint Joseph’s forward has a 7’5″ wingspan and averaged an impressive 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game as a junior last season.

Up next

Because he’s a free agent signing whose minimum-salary contract is subject to tax variance, Hayes-Davis counts a little more for tax purposes than he does against the salary cap, but even after taking that into account, the Suns are barely over the tax line — their 14 players on standard contracts put them into the tax by less than $300K.

That number would increase if Phoenix decides to carry a 15th man into the regular season. For now though, it looks like the team will probably leave an open spot on its regular season roster, with Jordan Goodwin ($200K partial guarantee) and Jared Butler (non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract) vying to be the 14th man alongside the team’s 13 players on fully guaranteed deals.

Goodwin’s contract structure may give him the slight edge, though the difference in marginal and the Suns should be able to duck the tax later in the season (if that’s a priority) regardless of which guard they hang onto.

Assuming the Suns keep their 13 players on guaranteed contracts, their three players on two-way deals, and one of Goodwin or Butler, the only other major preseason decisions will likely involve contract extensions. Williams, backup center Nick Richards, and Brooks are all eligible to sign new deals.

Of those three players, Williams is the most likely to get something done before opening night. Richards will remain extension-eligible all season long and probably doesn’t have a long-term future in Phoenix anyway after the club added Williams and Maluach. Brooks, meanwhile, still has two years left on his current contract, so there’s no rush to work out a new agreement with him prior to the 2026 offseason.

Williams, however, would become a restricted free agent next summer if he’s not extended this year. It’s possible the Suns are OK with that outcome. The big man has yet to play a game for his new team, and restricted free agency has favored teams over players this offseason. Still, if wouldn’t be a surprise if Williams and the Suns find a compromise both sides can live with next month. As noted above, teams typically don’t give up multiple first-round picks for players who aren’t in their long-term plans, so it’s safe to assume Phoenix would like to work out a new deal with the former Hornet sooner or later.

13 comments Hoops Rumors Originals Offseason Check-In Phoenix Suns

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Charlotte Hornets

By | at September 25, 2025 9:22 am

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Charlotte Hornets.

Free agent signings

  • Tre Mann: Three years, $24,000,000. Third-year team option. Includes back-related injury protection. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Spencer Dinwiddie: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Mason Plumlee: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Terrell Brown: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Marcus Garrett: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Keyontae Johnson: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Isaih Moore: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • DJ Rodman: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Brandon Slater: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired Collin Sexton and either the Jazz’s or Clippers’ 2030 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) from the Jazz in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic.
  • Acquired Vasilije Micic, the draft rights to Liam McNeeley (No. 29 pick), and either the Timberwolves’ (top-five protected), Cavaliers’, or Jazz’s 2029 first-round pick (whichever is least favorable) from the Suns in exchange for Mark Williams and the Suns’ 2029 second-round pick.
  • Acquired Pat Connaughton, the Bucks’ 2031 second-round pick, and the Bucks’ 2032 second-round pick from the Bucks in exchange for Vasilije Micic.

Draft picks

  • 1-4: Kon Knueppel
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $45,487,013).
  • 1-29: Liam McNeeley
    • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $14,194,138).
  • 2-33: Sion James
    • Signed to four-year, $9,968,963 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  • 2-34: Ryan Kalkbrenner
    • Signed to four-year, $9,968,963 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Note: The Hornets carried over KJ Simpson on a two-way contract from 2024/25.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $171.5MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.

The offseason so far

Since taking over as the Hornets’ president of basketball operations in March of 2024, Jeff Peterson has shown little urgency to accelerate the team’s rebuilding process. Charlotte, which last appeared in the playoffs in 2016, has the NBA’s longest active postseason drought and hasn’t won a playoff series since returning to the league as an expansion team in 2004, but Peterson and his front office are showing patience as they attempt to build the roster into one capable of sustained success.

That philosophy was evident again this summer. The Hornets entered the offseason with a pretty favorable cap situation and could have used their full mid-level exception on a free agent addition while remaining comfortably below the luxury tax line. However, the front office instead focused on building through the draft and accumulating draft assets on the trade market, while the club’s only forays into free agency involved re-signing its own players or bringing in minimum-salary veterans.

Let’s start with the draft, where the Hornets made four picks in the top 34 and subsequently signed all four players to standard contracts. With the No. 4 overall selection, Charlotte took the relatively safe route by adding Duke sharpshooter Kon Knueppel. The one-and-done wing should have a high floor as a pro, but his ceiling is probably quite a bit lower than that of Ace Bailey, who fell to Utah at No. 5.

There’s a case to be made that the Hornets should have rolled the dice on Bailey, the player with greater star potential, but they didn’t get a chance to visit with or work out the former Rutgers standout, who was believed to be trying to steer his way to Washington at No. 6. With incumbent cornerstones LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller coming off injury-shortened seasons, the Hornets decided to prioritize stability over a higher-risk, higher-reward option. And while Knueppel may not become a superstar, he absolutely has the chance to become one of the NBA’s very best shooters while holding his own on defense.

With the 29th, 33rd, and 34th overall picks, Charlotte drafted UConn’s Liam McNeeley, Knueppel’s former Duke teammate Sion James, and Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner, respectively. Once again, the Hornets took a more conservative approach with these picks — McNeeley had been projected by draft experts to come off the board much earlier in the first round, so he was a solid value at No. 29, while James and Kalkbrenner were five-year college players who have had plenty of time to hone their games and could be ready to contribute at the NBA level right away.

Kalkbrenner, in particular, could have an immediate path to rotation minutes in a fairly thin Charlotte frontcourt. James will likely have to rely on his defense to earn him playing time, while McNeeley will have to get back on track after a poor shooting performance in his only college season. Playing alongside Ball and/or Tre Mann should benefit McNeeley in a major way after he spent his freshman year on a Huskies team that operated without a true point guard.

The Hornets acquired the pick they used on McNeeley as part of a trade sending Mark Williams to Phoenix. It was actually the second time the front office had agreed to trade Williams — a deal with the Lakers at last season’s trade deadline fell through due to concerns about his physical. Whether the Hornets share those concerns about the big man’ long-term health or whether they just weren’t especially bullish about his long-term upside, it was clear he was no longer part of their future plans.

Taking into account a subsequent trade involving Vasilije Micic, who was sent from Phoenix to Charlotte in the Williams deal and then flipped to Milwaukee, the Hornets’ total haul for Williams consisted of McNeeley, Pat Connaughton, a 2029 first-round pick, and a future second-round pick (they gave up a second-rounder in the Suns trade but got two back in their deal with the Bucks).

Given that the first-rounder includes “least favorable” language and seems likely to land in the 20s, the return might not be as strong as the package Charlotte nearly acquired from the Lakers at the trade deadline (Dalton Knecht, a future unprotected first-rounder, and a first-round swap). But if McNeeley can develop into a reliable rotation player, it should end up looking fine for the Hornets, who would have had to pay Williams on his second contract beginning in 2026 if they’d hung onto him.

The Hornets’ other offseason trade wasn’t as significant as the one involving Williams, but it was curious for a couple reasons. For one, I’m not sure how Charlotte managed to extract a second-round pick from Utah while swapping Jusuf Nurkic for Collin Sexton, given that both players are on nearly identical expiring contracts and Nurkic – who is older than Sexton by five years – saw his playing time and production fall off last season. That was good work by the front office.

On the other hand, the Hornets’ backcourt is far more crowded than its center spot, so the trade wasn’t an obvious fit from a depth chart perspective. But with Ball and Mann both coming off injuries, acquiring another guard who can handle the ball made some amount of sense for Charlotte.

Speaking of Mann, even though he was limited to just 13 games last season due to a back injury, he was rewarded in free agency with a three-year, $24MM contract. The deal includes a third-year team option and some injury protection for the Hornets in the event that same back issue resurfaces, but it’s still a nice payday for Mann, who was productive (12.6 PPG, 4.5 APG, .446/.377/.797 shooting) in 41 games for Charlotte across parts of two seasons before being sidelined.

The Hornets brought in some additional depth at the point and in the middle by signing free agents Spencer Dinwiddie and Mason Plumlee to minimum-salary contracts. Neither Dinwiddie nor Plumlee is likely to play a starring role in Charlotte, but they’re reliable veterans who can give the team 15-20 minutes per night if needed.

Up next

Even after waiving DaQuan Jeffries earlier this month, the Hornets have a bit of a roster crunch to deal with before the regular season begins, with 16 players on guaranteed contracts and Moussa Diabate (on a non-guaranteed contract) looking likely to make the roster.

If Charlotte chooses to simply waive two players in order to set its 15-man regular season roster, Connaughton and former first-round pick Nick Smith Jr. look like the odd men out to me.

Diabate’s non-guaranteed contract would normally make him an obvious release candidate, but he gave the team good minutes last season and could even have a path to a starting role this fall, with just Kalkbrenner and Plumlee as his primary competition at center. Dinwiddie and Plumlee are on small expiring contracts, but probably wouldn’t have been given guaranteed salaries two months ago if the plan was to waive either of them.

If the Hornets want to hang onto Connaughton’s expiring contract for midseason trade purposes or if they liked what they saw from Smith down the stretch last season, maybe they try to make a trade to open up a spot to keep one of them. But most teams won’t be looking to shake up their rosters during the preseason, and there are only so many legitimate trade candidates on the Hornets’ roster. Josh Green and Grant Williams could be a couple to watch.

Green and Williams are two of the Hornets’ players eligible for contract extensions, along with Sexton and Connaughton, but I’d be surprised if the team completes any extensions before the season tips off. The front office likely wants to keep its cap sheet relatively clean going forward, and none of those four players are obvious long-term keepers for the organization.

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NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Boston Celtics

By | at September 24, 2025 3:59 pm

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Boston Celtics.

Free agent signings

  • Luka Garza: Two years, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Josh Minott: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year team option. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Chris Boucher: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jalen Bridges: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Kendall Brown: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Ron Harper Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Hayden Gray: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
    • Note: Gray has since been waived.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Amari Williams (No. 46 pick), the draft rights to Max Shulga (No. 57 pick), either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s 2026 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), and either the Celtics’ or Magic’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) from the Magic in exchange for the draft rights to Noah Penda (No. 32 pick).
    • Note: The Celtics had traded their 2027 second-round pick to the Magic in a previous deal.
  • Acquired Georges Niang (from Hawks), the Cavaliers’ 2031 second-round pick (from Hawks), and cash ($1.1MM; from Nets) in a three-team trade in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis (to Hawks) and a least favorable 2026 second-round pick (to Hawks).
  • Acquired Anfernee Simons from the Trail Blazers in exchange for Jrue Holiday.
  • Acquired RJ Luis (two-way) from the Jazz in exchange for Georges Niang, either the Celtics’ or Magic’s 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) and either the Celtics’ or Cavaliers’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable).

Draft picks

Two-way signings

  • Max Shulga
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.
  • Amari Williams
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $200MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • Full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,685,000) available.
  • Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $22,531,707).
  • One traded player exception frozen ($4,018,363).

The offseason so far

After submitting one of the best seasons in NBA history in 2023/24 (64-18 in the regular season; 16-3 in the playoffs), the Celtics appeared on their way to authoring a worthy follow-up in ’24/25 as they racked up 61 more regular season wins and cruised past the Magic in the first round of the postseason.

But the Celtics’ path to a second straight championship hit a serious snag in the Eastern Conference semifinals when they blew back-to-back 20-point leads at home to the Knicks, then lost star forward Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles in Game 4. Boston managed to force the series to six games before bowing out two wins shy of the Eastern Conference finals.

A certain level of belt tightening had been anticipated this summer in Boston even before the season ended the way it did. The Celtics had been operating in second-apron territory for consecutive seasons, and even if the incoming ownership group were willing to spend the sizable luxury tax penalties that accompany a team salary of that size, the front office was finding it increasingly more difficult to add reinforcements to an aging roster due to apron-related restrictions.

After Tatum tore his Achilles and the club failed to make it out of the second round, the question went from “Will the Celtics shed salary?” to “Just how much salary will they shed?”

That question may not be fully answered until later in the season, as Boston’s cost-cutting efforts appear to be ongoing. But after entering the offseason with a projected team salary of $230MM+, the Celtics have reduced that number to about $200MM. They’re still in apron territory, but they sit comfortably below the second apron and may be able to dip below the first apron – or even the luxury tax line – at some point before season’s end.

A pair of transactions played a significant role in the Celtics’ salary reduction. First the team agreed to send Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks in a three-team trade that also involved the Nets. Then president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his front office flipped Georges Niang – the player acquired from the Hawks for Porzingis – to the Jazz without taking back any players on standard contracts.

Porzingis is set to earn $30.7MM on an expiring deal in 2025/26, so removing him from the books generated massive savings for the Celtics, who had initially been projected to pay a record-setting tax bill of approximately $280MM — that number has since dropped to roughly $40MM.

As talented as Porzingis is, his contract isn’t especially team-friendly and his health was a question mark entering the summer after he was plagued during last season’s final few months by a mysterious illness later described as post-viral syndrome. As a result, moving him represented a pure salary dump for the Celtics, who gave up more second-round picks (three) than they got back (one) in their trades with Atlanta/Brooklyn and Utah.

Boston’s other major cost-cutting trade of the summer saw the team send Jrue Holiday to Portland straight up for Anfernee Simons. The gap between Holiday’s $32.4MM salary and Simons’ $27.7MM cap hit isn’t massive, but the deal created significant multiyear flexibility for the Celtics. Holiday’s contract spans three seasons and is worth $104.4MM in total, whereas Simons is on an expiring contract and will come off the books next summer.

While Holiday looks like the more valuable player than Simons right now, he’s also 35 years old and his medicals were concerning enough that after initially agreeing to attach a pair of second-round picks to Simons as part of the deal, Portland was able to convince Boston to complete the trade without those picks included. The Celtics will miss the hard-nosed guard in the short term, but it’s possible they’ll be relieved in a couple years to no longer have that contract on their cap.

Simons isn’t nearly the defender Holiday is, but he’s a more dangerous scorer, having averaged roughly 20 points per game and making over 38% of his three-point attempts during his final four seasons in Portland. If the Celtics do want to keep chipping away at their team salary, Simons is the most obvious candidate to be flipped in the same way that Niang was. But for the time being, it looks like he’ll open the season as one of the club’s go-to options on offense alongside star wing Jaylen Brown.

Outside of Simons and first-round pick Hugo Gonzalez – who, at age 19, may not be ready to contribute immediately – the Celtics were limited to minimum-salary free agent signings this offseason. With Tatum likely to miss most or all of 2025/26, Porzingis traded, and Luke Kornet and Al Horford departing in free agency, the Celtics entered the market looking to add a wing and a couple frontcourt players.

One of those frontcourt additions was Chris Boucher, a longtime Raptor who is capable of blocking a shot on one end of the court and knocking down a three-pointer on the other. Consistency has been a challenge for Boucher, but he provides energy off the bench and his willingness to let it fly from beyond the arc certainly fits the Celtics’ game plan.

Boston’s other two notable free agent signings were a little less conventional, as the team swooped in during the first 24 hours of free agency on two little-used Timberwolves who had their team options declined by Minnesota in June, signing Luka Garza and Josh Minott to guaranteed minimum-salary contracts.

Neither player has shown much at the NBA level, but Garza has put up monster numbers in the G League and Minott received rave reviews from Wolves staffers last fall. The goal in Boston will be to replicate the success the team had with a player like Kornet, who became a productive rotation player in recent years after several seasons as a journeyman.

Up next

Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta don’t have fully guaranteed salaries for 2025/26, but both players look like safe bets to make the opening night roster alongside the Celtics’ 12 players on guaranteed deals. The team will likely open the season without a 15th man in order to maximize its roster and financial flexibility.

As noted above, we can’t entirely rule out the possibility of a preseason trade – involving Simons or another player – that further reduces Boston’s payroll, but there hasn’t been much chatter on that front as of late. The front office will have until the trade deadline to explore additional cost-cutting moves.

All three of the Celtics’ two-way slots are currently occupied, with the club’s two 2025 second-round picks – Amari Williams and Max Shulga – joined by RJ Luis, who was acquired from the Jazz in the Niang trade. Luis reportedly received a two-way offer from Boston at the start of the offeason before signing with Utah, so he shouldn’t simply be viewed as a trade throw-in. But if the Celtics do decide to make a change to one of their two-way slots before the season begins, he’d probably be more at risk to be waived than one of the team’s recent draftees.

Finally, while the Celtics have a couple players eligible for veteran contract extension, neither Simons nor Walsh looks like a legitimate candidate for a new deal at this point. Simons is more likely to be traded than extended, while Walsh still needs to establish himself as an NBA rotation player after playing fewer than 500 total minutes in his first two years in the league.

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2025/26 NBA Over/Unders: Northwest Division

By | at September 22, 2025 10:23 am

With the 2025/26 NBA regular season tipping off next month, we’re getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and continuing an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a series of sports betting sites – including BetMGM and BetOnline – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2024/25, our voters went 13-17 on their over/under picks. Can we top that in ’25/26?

We’ll continue our series today with the Northwest Division…

Oklahoma City Thunder

  • 2024/25 record: 68-14
  • Over/under for 2025/26: 62.5 wins
  • Major offseason moves:

Denver Nuggets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Portland Trail Blazers

Utah Jazz

Previous voting results:

Atlantic

  • New York Knicks (53.5 wins): Over (63.2%)
  • Boston Celtics (42.5 wins): Over (52.7%)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (42.5 wins): Under (58.7%)
  • Toronto Raptors (37.5 wins): Over (50.2%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (20.5 wins): Over (54.4%)
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