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Top 45 Picks From 2025 Draft Have Signed NBA Contracts

July 12th, 2025 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been 16 days since the NBA’s 2025 draft wrapped up and just 11 days since those draftees were permitted to start signing contracts, but the majority of the ’25 draft class have already put pen to paper, finalizing standard or two-way deals with their respective teams.

As our tracker shows, all 30 first-round picks have signed their rookie scale contracts, and the top 15 picks in the second round are now under contract too. Outside of the top 45, four additional players – No. 48 pick Javon Small, No. 49 pick Tyrese Proctor, No. 50 pick Kobe Sanders, and No. 55 pick Lachlan Olbrich – have formally inked their first NBA contracts.

That leaves the following players who don’t yet have an NBA contract in place for the 2025/26 season:

  1. Boston Celtics: Amari Williams
  2. Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic
  3. New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara
  4. Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey
  5. Utah Jazz: John Tonje
  6. Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter
  7. Golden State Warriors: Will Richard
  8. Boston Celtics: Max Shulga
  9. Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang
  10. Memphis Grizzlies: Jahmai Mashack

A number of these players are expected to end up on two-way deals — Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter links) reported on draft night that both of these Celtics picks – Williams and Shulga – would be signing two-ways with Boston, for instance.

Still, not all of these guys will be on NBA rosters when the 2025/26 season begins. For example, the expectation is that Niang will spend next season in the EuroLeague with Virtus Bologna.

Players born outside the U.S. and/or ones who already have experience in non-NBA leagues are typically the best candidates to become overseas draft-and-stash players, so that could be an option for late second-rounders like Markovic, Diawara, and Toohey too. It’s hardly a given though. Post-draft reporting indicated that the Bucks and Knicks weren’t yet sure if Markovic and Diawara, respectively, will be stashed in Europe or if they’ll play stateside in ’25/26. Diawara, in particular, might have a chance to earn a standard contract for a New York team with little breathing room below its hard cap.

The other option for draft-and-stash players is to spend the season in the G League rather than in a league outside the U.S. Typically, at least one or two players go that route each season. That’s what Nikola Djurisic, the Hawks’ No. 43 overall pick a year ago, did in 2024/25 before signing his first NBA contract with Atlanta earlier this week.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on these players in the coming days and weeks, as many of them could end up finalizing their plans for 2025/26 either during the Las Vegas Summer League or shortly thereafter.

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NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2025/26

July 11th, 2025 at 9:05am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing each team to surpass the $154,647,000 threshold once its cap room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury tax line of $187,895,000 as well — the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Mavericks are among the clubs who project to have substantial tax bills this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows clubs like Cleveland, Boston, and Dallas to build a significant payroll without violating NBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

The league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has carried over the hard cap rules from the 2017 CBA while also expanding them, adding new scenarios in which teams can face hard caps and creating a second salary level that certain teams can’t exceed.

We go into greater detail in a separate article on how teams become hard-capped, but here’s a brief rundown of the ways it can happen in 2025/26:

  1. A team becomes hard-capped at the first tax apron ($195,945,000) if it makes any of the following moves:
    • Acquires a player via sign-and-trade.
    • Uses more than the taxpayer portion (up to two years, with a starting salary of $5,685,000) of the mid-level exception to sign a player.
    • Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
    • Uses any portion of the bi-annual exception to sign a player or to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
    • Uses the expanded traded player exception.
    • Uses a traded player exception generated during the previous offseason or regular season.
    • Signs a player who was waived during the regular season and whose pre-waiver salary was higher than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000).
  2. A team becomes hard-capped at the second tax apron ($207,824,000) if it makes any of the following moves:
    • Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player to a contract.
    • Aggregates two or more players in a trade for salary-matching purposes.
    • Sends out cash in a trade.
    • Sends out a player via sign-and-trade and uses that player’s outgoing salary to take back a contract (either in the same transaction or in a subsequent transaction via the resulting trade exception).

Given how many ways there are to create a hard cap, most clubs who don’t intend to operate over one of the two aprons will likely end up hard-capping themselves at one or the other.

Some teams will have to be hyper-aware of that hard cap when they consider any roster move for the rest of the season, but for others it’s just a technicality that won’t affect their plans in any meaningful way.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2025/26 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.

In some instances, a team made multiple roster moves that would have imposed a hard cap (e.g. acquired a player via sign-and-trade and used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception). Only the first of those transactions is noted below, though in some cases a team made two moves within a single transaction to create a hard cap, in which case each relevant move is mentioned.

Hard-capped at first tax apron

These teams will be prohibited from exceeding $195,945,000 in team salary.

Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte Hornets

  • Used expanded traded player exception to acquire Collin Sexton.

Chicago Bulls

Detroit Pistons

Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Clippers

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Brook Lopez.

Los Angeles Lakers

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Jake LaRavia.

Memphis Grizzlies

Miami Heat

  • Used expanded traded player exception to acquire Norman Powell.

New Orleans Pelicans

Orlando Magic

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Tyus Jones.

Portland Trail Blazers

  • Used expanded traded player exception to acquire Jrue Holiday.

Sacramento Kings

San Antonio Spurs

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Luke Kornet.

Utah Jazz

  • Used the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to acquire Kyle Anderson.
  • Used the bi-annual exception to acquire Kevin Love.

Washington Wizards

Hard-capped at second tax apron

These teams will be prohibited from exceeding $207,824,000 in team salary.

Brooklyn Nets

  • Sent out cash in a trade.

Dallas Mavericks

New York Knicks

No hard cap

  • Boston Celtics
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Denver Nuggets
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Toronto Raptors

This list, which figures to continue evolving, will be updated throughout the 2025/26 league year as necessary. It can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

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Where Things Stand In NBA Free Agency

July 8th, 2025 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

We’re now into the second week of the NBA’s 2025/26 league year, and while free agency has been resolved for many top players, there are still a number of intriguing names who don’t yet have new contract agreements in place.

Let’s check in on where things stand for some of those players…

The restricted free agents

While they’re not the only four restricted free agents still on the board, there are four names who make up the top tier of notable unsigned RFAs, with each of them ranking among our top 10 free agents as of June 30. Those four players are Josh Giddey (Bulls), Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), and Cam Thomas (Nets).

The restricted free agent market will likely play out very slowly this summer, given that there are essentially no teams (with the possible exception of Brooklyn) in position to sign any one of those players to the kind of offer sheet that would give the player’s current team pause. Here’s what we know about each of those four RFAs:

Josh Giddey (Bulls)
The expectation is that Giddey will remain in Chicago, so it’ll just be a matter of figuring out exactly what his next contract looks like. His camp is reportedly hoping to match (or, presumably, exceed) the five-year, $150MM extension that Jalen Suggs signed with Orlando last fall. Whether the Bulls are willing to go that high in terms of annual salary and/or years remains to be seen.

Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
The Kings, Wizards, Heat, Bulls, Bucks, and Nets were among the teams said last week to have expressed varying level of interest in a sign-and-trade deal for Kuminga. However, some of those teams have since made moves that will make Kuminga a less appealing – or practical – fit.

Sacramento has reportedly been the most aggressive suitor for Kuminga so far, having “floated” the idea a package that included 2024 first-rounder Devin Carter and two second-round picks.

But with no deal imminent, the expectation is that the 22-year-old and his camp will meet at the Las Vegas Summer League with interested teams, including the Warriors. A return to Golden State remains very much in play despite Kuminga’s up-and-down tenure in Golden State so far.

Quentin Grimes (Sixers)
The Sixers remain very confident that they’ll re-sign Grimes sooner or later and have “splashed cold water” on possible sign-and-trade scenarios, league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. As with Giddey, it seems like the main question with Grimes isn’t where he’ll end up, but what his new contract with his current team will look like.

Cam Thomas (Nets)
We’ve heard very little since free agency opened about Thomas. In a Bleacher Report stream last Thursday (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer said the Nets guard “does not really have a market, to my understanding.”

Brooklyn is the only team in the league operating below the minimum salary floor, so it’s not as if the Nets are going to be outbid by a rival suitor — it certainly seems as if the only way Thomas ends up on a new team this offseason is if Brooklyn doesn’t want to bring him back.

The veteran unrestricted free agents

The next four highest-ranked unsigned players from our top-50 list after those four restricted free agents are long-tenured veterans. Here’s what we know about those players:

Chris Paul
The Clippers, Suns, and Bucks have been the teams most frequently linked to Paul in recent days. Milwaukee probably offers the best path to a starting role, which is something that’s reportedly important to the longtime NBA point guard, but he also wants to be close to his family in Los Angeles, which could give an edge to those two Western Conference teams.

Russell Westbrook
Another L.A. native who would reportedly like to play closer to home, Westbrook was said to be drawing legitimate interest from the Kings, but that was when it looked like Sacramento was going to trade Malik Monk. If that doesn’t happen, there may not be a spot on the Kings’ backcourt (or on the team’s cap) for Westbrook.

Al Horford
While Horford has been linked to several teams in the last week or two, the one constant has been the Warriors, who continue to look like the frontrunner to land the big man if he doesn’t retire. Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) reported on Monday that Horford continued to mull his options, with no deal imminent.

I suspect Golden State wants to resolve its Kuminga situation before officially committing its taxpayer mid-level exception to Horford, since doing so would hard-cap the team at the second tax apron and potentially complicate its ability to match an aggressive offer sheet for Kuminga.

Malcolm Brogdon
Reporting on Monday indicated that the Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, Bucks, Pelicans, and Kings have all conveyed at least some level of interest in Brogdon. With some other higher-profile guards still out there, Brogdon may be the Plan B for some teams, which would mean he’d have to wait for some of those other players to commit before his options really crystalize.

The two veteran guards who aren’t yet free agents

Damian Lillard is currently on waivers and Bradley Beal is still working on a buyout with the Suns, but the expectation is that both players will reach unrestricted free agency pretty soon.

Lillard is a bit of a wild card, since he’s likely to miss the 2025/26 season due to an Achilles tear. He hasn’t ruled out the possibility of signing with a team sooner rather than later, and there will certainly be no shortage of clubs who would welcome the opportunity to help him with his rehab process and get a leg up on retaining him for ’26/27. But he’s not the type of player who will help a team win in the short term.

Beal, on the other hand, is coming off a pretty solid offensive season and would become a much more valuable investment if he’s on a contract that’s closer to his minimum salary than his maximum. The Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, and Warriors are among the teams believed to have interest in signing Beal.

With many of those clubs also eyeing Paul, Brogdon, or other guards, Beal may be the first domino to fall — if and when he finds a new team, the ones that miss out can shift their focus elsewhere in earnest. The Clippers are rumored to the favorites for Beal, per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports.

The trades that aren’t yet official

As our full breakdown of this offseason’s trades shows, there are only two agreed-upon deals that aren’t yet official: Denver’s acquisition of Cameron Johnson from the Nets, plus the Jonas Valanciunas/Dario Saric swap between the Nuggets and Kings.

There has been speculation that the Nuggets will combine both of those agreements into a single transaction to avoid creating a hard cap at the first tax apron. At the very least, as NBA insider Marc Stein tweets, Denver needs to get the Johnson/Michael Porter Jr. trade done before the deal with the Kings in order to be able to get below the first apron. That will allow the Nuggets to take back more salary than they send out for Saric.

The Nets may be thoroughly exploring scenarios for how to take full advantage of their current cap room before they finalize that trade with the Nuggets, since it will cut into their space significantly — swapping Johnson for Porter will use up $17MM+ of their room.

The delay on these deals is not an indication that the Valanciunas/Saric deal won’t eventually be finalized. Multiple reports have indicated it remains on track, despite Valanciunas’ reported desire to get out of his NBA contract and sign with the Greek team Panathinaikos. Multiple reports, including another one from Stein on Monday night (Twitter link), have also indicated that the Nuggets have told the veteran center they intend to keep him and want him to honor his contract.

For what it’s worth, a report from SDNA in Greece indicates that Panathinaikos was assured by Valanciunas’ representation that the Nuggets would let him out of his NBA deal and was surprised to find out that Denver hadn’t signed off on that plan at all.

Although those two Denver deals are the only ones we know about that aren’t official, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more trades still to come — the Clippers, Heat, and Jazz, for instance, agreed to a three-team trade on Monday and finalized it later in the day. It’s possible that more deals could be around the corner as teams and executives congregate for Summer League action.

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2025 NBA Draft Pick Signings

July 6th, 2025 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent and trade news has generated the biggest NBA headlines over the last couple weeks, but teams around the league are also taking care of the rookies they drafted on June 25 and 26, signing them to their first NBA contracts. Because cap holds for first-round picks count for 120% of the rookie scale amount instead of 100%, there’s little incentive for teams to wait to lock up their first-rounders.

For first-round picks, rookie contracts are fairly rigid, having essentially been predetermined. The NBA’s rookie-scale structure dictates that first-rounders will be signed to four-year deals, which include two guaranteed years, then team options in years three and four.

The value of those contracts depends on where a player was drafted. This year, No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is in line for a four-year deal worth nearly $63MM, which represents the maximum allowable 120% of his scale amount. No. 30 pick Yanic Konan Niederhauser, on the other hand, is eligible for a four-year contract worth just over $14MM.

The full breakdown of this year’s first-round rookie salaries and contracts can be found right here — if you see a first-rounder listed below as “signed,” you can assume his contract looks like that, unless otherwise indicated.

Second-round picks, meanwhile, aren’t assured of two guaranteed seasons, though some players will receive them. The NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement introduced a new salary cap exception for second-rounders, which will allow teams to sign those players to contracts of up to four years with a starting salary worth up to the equivalent to the minimum for a two-year veteran. In the past, such a deal would have required cap room or another exception, such as the mid-level.

Some second-rounders won’t sign standard NBA deals immediately. They may get two-way contracts, play in the G League, or head overseas to refine their games while their NBA teams retain their rights. We’ll make note of that below too, wherever it’s applicable.

Here’s a breakdown of 2025’s draft pick signings. This list will continue to be updated as more draftees sign their first NBA contracts:

First round

  1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, F, Duke: Signed
  2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers: Signed
  3. Philadelphia 76ers: VJ Edgecombe, G, Baylor: Signed
  4. Charlotte Hornets: Kon Knueppel, G/F, Duke: Signed
  5. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey, F, Rutgers: Signed
  6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson, G, Texas: Signed
  7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, G, Oklahoma: Signed
  8. Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin, G/F, BYU: Signed
  9. Toronto Raptors: Collin Murray-Boyles, F/C, South Carolina: Signed
  10. Phoenix Suns: Khaman Maluach, C, Duke: Signed
  11. Memphis Grizzlies: Cedric Coward, F, Washington State: Signed
  12. Chicago Bulls: Noa Essengue, F, Ratiopharm Ulm: Signed
  13. New Orleans Pelicans: Derik Queen, C, Maryland: Signed
  14. San Antonio Spurs: Carter Bryant, F, Arizona: Signed
  15. Oklahoma City Thunder: Thomas Sorber, C, Georgetown: Signed
  16. Portland Trail Blazers: Yang Hansen, C, Qingado: Signed
  17. Minnesota Timberwolves: Joan Beringer, C, Cedevita Olimpija: Signed
  18. Utah Jazz: Walter Clayton Jr., G, Florida: Signed
  19. Brooklyn Nets: Nolan Traore, G, Saint-Quentin: Signed
  20. Miami Heat: Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Illinois: Signed
  21. Washington Wizards: Will Riley, G/F, Illinois: Signed
  22. Brooklyn Nets: Drake Powell, G/F, North Carolina: Signed
  23. Atlanta Hawks: Asa Newell, F/C, Georgia: Signed
  24. Sacramento Kings: Nique Clifford, G, Colorado State: Signed
  25. Orlando Magic: Jase Richardson, G, Michigan State: Signed
  26. Brooklyn Nets: Ben Saraf, G, Ratiopharm Ulm: Signed
  27. Brooklyn Nets: Danny Wolf, F, Michigan: Signed
  28. Boston Celtics: Hugo Gonzalez, G/F, Real Madrid: Signed
  29. Charlotte Hornets: Liam McNeeley, G/F, UConn: Signed
  30. Los Angeles Clippers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser, C, Penn State: Signed

Second round

  1. Phoenix Suns: Rasheer Fleming, F, Saint Joseph’s: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First three years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  2. Orlando Magic: Noah Penda, F, Le Mans: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  3. Charlotte Hornets: Sion James, F, Duke: Signed
    • Four years, $9.97MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  4. Charlotte Hornets: Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton: Signed
    • Four years, $9.97MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  5. Philadelphia 76ers: Johni Broome, C, Auburn: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  6. Los Angeles Lakers: Adou Thiero, F, Arkansas: Signed
    • Three years, $5.95MM. First two years guaranteed. Third-year team option.
  7. Detroit Pistons: Chaz Lanier, G, Tennessee: Signed
    • Four years, $8.79MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  8. Indiana Pacers: Kam Jones, G, Marquette: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  9. Toronto Raptors: Alijah Martin, G, Florida: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  10. New Orleans Pelicans: Micah Peavy, G/F, Georgetown: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First two years guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.
  11. Phoenix Suns: Koby Brea, G/F, Kentucky: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  12. Sacramento Kings: Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford: Signed
    • Three years, $5.95MM. First two years guaranteed. Third-year team option.
  13. Washington Wizards: Jamir Watkins, G/F, Florida State: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  14. Oklahoma City Thunder: Brooks Barnhizer, F, Northwestern: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  15. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rocco Zikarsky, C, Brisbane: Signed
    • Two-way contract (two years).
  16. Boston Celtics: Amari Williams, C, Kentucky: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  17. Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic, F/C, Mega Basket: Will play overseas
  18. Memphis Grizzlies: Javon Small, G, West Virginia: Signed
    • Two-way contract (two years).
  19. Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke: Signed
    • Four years, $8.69MM. First two years guaranteed. Third year partially guaranteed ($500K). Fourth-year team option.
  20. Los Angeles Clippers: Kobe Sanders, G/F, Nevada: Signed
    • Two-way contract (two years).
  21. New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara, F, Cholet
  22. Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey, F, Sydney
  23. Utah Jazz: John Tonje, F, Wisconsin: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  24. Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter, G, Liberty: Signed
    • Two-way contract (two years).
  25. Chicago Bulls: Lachlan Olbrich, F/C, Illawarra: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  26. Golden State Warriors: Will Richard, G, Florida
  27. Boston Celtics: Max Shulga, G, VCU: Signed
    • Two-way contract.
  28. Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang, G/F, Trento: Will play overseas
  29. Memphis Grizzlies: Jahmai Mashack, G/F, Tennessee: Will play in G League
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Community Shootaround: Early Offseason Winners, Losers

July 5th, 2025 at 10:23am CST by Rory Maher

We’re in a quiet transactional period as we wait for the July moratorium to lift tomorrow. There are still a handful of top restricted free agents who have yet to sign new contracts, but with a dearth of cap space around the league, the players don’t have a ton of negotiating leverage, so it could take a while for those situations to play out.

John Hollinger of The Athletic recently weighed in on some of the biggest winners and losers to this point in the offseason. The article is technically centered around free agency, but it takes all offseason moves into account.

Hollinger lauds the moves the Hawks have made, including trading for Kristaps Porzingis, landing what could be an extremely valuable 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans (only this deal is official), acquiring Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade, and signing sharpshooter Luke Kennard. Atlanta still has its bi-annual exception available, Hollinger notes, and is about $7.4MM below the luxury tax line.

While they’re facing a minor roster crunch, Hollinger also likes the Hornets‘ offseason thus far, saying they had a strong draft (Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner) and have done solid work on the trade market, particularly adding Collin Sexton and a second-round pick from Utah for Jusuf Nurkic. He also views Spencer Dinwiddie as a nice pickup on a veteran’s minimum deal.

The defending champion Thunder are the third team on Hollinger’s list of winners, bringing back 14 of their 15 players on standard deals while essentially replacing Dillon Jones with first-round pick Thomas Sorber. Oklahoma City is below the luxury tax line and also retained Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell on team-friendly deals, Hollinger observes.

The month of July is Hollinger’s biggest loser, as free agency is no longer the same type of event on the league’s schedule as it used to be, for a variety of reasons.

For actual teams, Hollinger thinks the Celtics and Pacers have taken steps back. He credits Boston’s front office for shedding the salaries of Porzingis and Jrue Holiday without having to attach sweeteners (the Celtics will actually receive two second-rounders from Portland in the Holiday deal).

But the Celtics also lost Luke Kornet in free agency and Al Horford is viewed as unlikely to return. And they still need to trim about $20MM from their books to move below the luxury tax to avoid the repeater penalty. The biggest question mark, according to Hollinger, is how can the Celtics position themselves to be a contender again in 2026/27, when Jayson Tatum has recovered from his torn Achilles tendon?

As for the Pacers, they’re on Hollinger’s list for losing longtime center Myles Turner to the division-rival Bucks in free agency. They still have pathways to find a new starting center, Hollinger writes, and their front office has largely done excellent work over the years. But Indiana is in a similar boat as Boston, with 2025/26 increasingly looking like a “gap year” in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles tear and more uncertainty heading into ’26/27 with Turner no longer on the roster.

We want to know what you think. Do you agree with Hollinger’s winners and losers? Most people seem high on the Rockets’ moves, but they weren’t included. I was also mildly surprised to not see the Pelicans on the list of losers. Head to comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.

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2025/26 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker

July 4th, 2025 at 12:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry three extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises.

First introduced in 2017, two-way deals have undergone some rule changes in recent years, and the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement has updated them further. Here are some key points to remember:

  • Teams can carry three players on two-way contracts.
  • Two-way players are eligible to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 82 regular season games.
  • If a team isn’t carrying a full 15-man standard roster, its two-way players can only be active for a combined 90 games.
  • Players on two-way contracts will earn $636,435 in 2025/26, half of the rookie minimum.
  • Two-way contracts can’t be signed after March 4.
  • Two-way players are ineligible to play in the postseason (including play-in games) unless they’re promoted to the standard 15-man roster, which can happen at any time up until the last day of the regular season.

You can check out our glossary entry to learn more about two-way contracts.

NBA teams have begun to fill in their two-way slots for the 2025/26 league year, so we’ll track all those deals in the space below. Some two-way players from 2024/25 inked two-year contracts and remain under contract for this season, while others have been newly signed.

If a two-way signing has been reported by a trusted source but isn’t yet official, we’ll list it in italics and link to the report, updating the info as necessary. Players who are in the first year of two-way contracts that cover two years (the maximum length), will be noted with an asterisk (*) once that info is confirmed.

This tracker will continue to be updated throughout the 2025/26 league year, and can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Here are 2025/26’s two-way players:

Updated 9-5-25

Atlanta Hawks

  1. Eli Ndiaye, F
  2. Jacob Toppin, F
  3. Keaton Wallace, G

Boston Celtics

  1. Max Shulga, G
  2. RJ Luis, G/F *
  3. Amari Williams, C

Brooklyn Nets

  1. Tyson Etienne, G
  2. E.J. Liddell, F
  3. Empty

Charlotte Hornets

  1. KJ Simpson, G
  2. Drew Peterson, F
  3. Antonio Reeves, G

Chicago Bulls

  1. Emanuel Miller, F
  2. Lachlan Olbrich, F/C
  3. Yuki Kawamura, G

Cleveland Cavaliers

  1. Nae’Qwan Tomlin, F
  2. Luke Travers, G/F
  3. Empty

Dallas Mavericks

  1. Ryan Nembhard, G
  2. Miles Kelly, G
  3. Empty

Denver Nuggets

  1. Tamar Bates, G
  2. Spencer Jones, F
  3. Curtis Jones, G

Detroit Pistons

  1. Tolu Smith, F
  2. Colby Jones, G
  3. Daniss Jenkins, G

Golden State Warriors

  1. Jackson Rowe, F
  2. Empty
  3. Empty

The Warriors have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Taran Armstrong.

Houston Rockets

  1. Kevon Harris, G/F
  2. Isaiah Crawford, F
  3. JD Davison, G

Indiana Pacers

  1. RayJ Dennis, G
  2. Quenton Jackson, G
  3. Taelon Peter, G *

Los Angeles Clippers

  1. Trentyn Flowers, G/F
  2. Kobe Sanders, G/F *
  3. Jordan Miller, F

Los Angeles Lakers

  1. Christian Koloko, C
  2. Chris Manon, G/F
  3. Empty

Memphis Grizzlies

  1. Javon Small , G *
  2. PJ Hall, C
  3. Olivier-Maxence Prosper, F

Miami Heat

  1. Vladislav Goldin, C
  2. Myron Gardner, G/F *
  3. Empty

Milwaukee Bucks

  1. Pete Nance, F
  2. Jamaree Bouyea, G
  3. Mark Sears, G

Minnesota Timberwolves

  1. Rocco Zikarsky, C *
  2. Enrique Freeman, F
  3. Tristen Newton, G (reported)

New Orleans Pelicans

  1. Trey Alexander, G
  2. Hunter Dickinson, C
  3. Bryce McGowens, G

New York Knicks

  1. Empty
  2. Empty
  3. Empty

The Knicks have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Kevin McCullar.

Oklahoma City Thunder

  1. Brooks Barnhizer, G/F
  2. Branden Carlson, C (reported)
  3. Empty

Orlando Magic

  1. Orlando Robinson, C
  2. Jamal Cain, F
  3. Empty

Philadelphia 76ers

  1. Hunter Sallis, G
  2. Jabari Walker, F
  3. Dominick Barlow, F

Phoenix Suns

  1. CJ Huntley, F *
  2. Koby Brea, G
  3. Isaiah Livers, F

Portland Trail Blazers

  1. Sidy Cissoko, F
  2. Caleb Love, G
  3. Empty

Sacramento Kings

  1. Dylan Cardwell, C *
  2. Isaiah Stevens, G *
  3. Daeqwon Plowden, G

San Antonio Spurs

  1. David Jones Garcia, G/F
  2. Riley Minix, F
  3. Harrison Ingram, F

Toronto Raptors

  1. Ulrich Chomche, C
  2. Chucky Hepburn, G
  3. Alijah Martin, G

Utah Jazz

  1. Elijah Harkless, G
  2. Oscar Tshiebwe, F/C
  3. John Tonje, G

Washington Wizards

  1. Jamir Watkins, G/F
  2. Tristan Vukcevic, F/C
  3. Empty
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Second-Round Pick Exception Details For 2025/26

July 2nd, 2025 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

As we first outlined in 2023 when it was introduced as a new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the second-round pick exception allows NBA teams to sign their second-round picks to standard contracts without requiring cap room or another exception (such as the mid-level) to do so.

Like the rookie scale exception, the second-round pick exception isn’t limited to a single use. It can be deployed as many times as needed in a given league year.

The second-round exception can be used to sign a player to either a three-year contract that includes a third-year team option or a four-year contract that features a fourth-year team option.

Teams have made good use of the new exception over the past couple years, with nearly every second-round pick who gets a standard contracts now being signed using the second-round exception.

The values of the second-round pick exception change every year along with the NBA’s minimum salary scale, so with this year’s second-rounders starting to sign, it’s worth updating the numbers to ensure they’re accurate for 2025/26

Here are the details for ’25/26:

Three-year deal

  • The first year can be worth up to the minimum salary for a player with one year of NBA experience.
  • The second and third years are worth the second- and third-year minimum salaries for a rookie.
  • The third year is a team option.

As our chart of minimum salaries shows, in 2025/26, the maximum three-year salary for a contract with this structure would be about $6.7MM. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown (option year in italics):

Year Salary
2025/26 $2,048,494
2026/27 $2,150,917
2027/28 $2,525,901
Total $6,725,312

While the second- and third-year salaries will remain static in any three-year contract signed using the second-round exception, the first season can be as low as the rookie minimum ($1,272,870). A three-year deal that starts at that minimum amount would be worth a total of $5,949,688.

Four-year deal

  • The first year can be worth up to the minimum salary for a player with two years of NBA experience.
  • The second year can be worth up to the second-year minimum salary for a player with one year of experience.
  • The third and fourth years are worth the third- and fourth-year minimum salaries for a rookie.
  • The fourth year is a team option.

In 2025/26, the maximum four-year salary for a contract with this structure would be nearly $10MM. Here’s what it looks like from year to year (option year in italics):

Year Salary
2025/26 $2,296,274
2026/27 $2,411,090
2027/28 $2,525,901
2028/29 $2,735,698
Total $9,968,963

As with the first year of the three-year deal, the first two seasons of the four-year contract don’t necessarily have to start this high. They could be as low as $1,272,870 for year one and $2,150,917 for year two, for a four-year total of $8,685,386.

In any deal that uses this four-year contract structure, the salary increase between the first and second season can’t exceed 5% if the second season is above the minimum. For instance, a team wouldn’t be permitted to negotiate a contract that starts at the rookie minimum ($1,272,870) and jumps to $2,300,000 in year two, even though that second-year salary comes in below the maximum allowed.

Players who are signed using the second-round pick exception don’t count against a team’s cap between July 1 and July 30 of their first season.

That rule allows teams to preserve all the cap room they need until July 31 without having to worry about their second-rounders cutting into it, as well as positioning those players to sign their first NBA contracts before taking part in Summer League games.

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Rookie Scale Salaries For 2025 NBA First-Round Picks

July 2nd, 2025 at 8:11am CST by Luke Adams

With the NBA’s salary cap set at $154,647,000 for the 2025/26 league year, the rookie scale has been set as well. The rookie scale locks in the value of contracts for first-round picks.

In each NBA league year, rookie scale amounts are assigned to each first-round slot, from No. 1 through No. 30. Teams can sign their first-rounders to as little as 80% of that rookie scale amount, or up to 120% of that figure.

While that rule theoretically affords teams some flexibility, first-round picks almost always sign contracts worth 120% of their rookie scale amount, and unsigned first-rounders have a cap hold worth 120% of their rookie scale amount.

Listed below are the salary figures that represent 120% of the rookie scale amounts for 2025’s first-round picks. If a first-round pick signs a rookie scale contract in 2025/26, it will be for the amount below, unless he accepts a deal worth less than the maximum allowable 120% (in which case, we’ll update these numbers).

These salary figures will only apply if the player signs in 2025/26. If a player doesn’t sign an NBA contract this year, his rookie contract will look a little different in future seasons.

Rookie scale contracts are guaranteed for the first two years, with team options on the third and fourth years.

Here’s the 2025 breakdown:

No.
 2025/26 2026/27 2027/28 2028/29 Total
1 $13,825,920 $14,517,480 $15,208,680 $19,178,145 $62,730,225
2 $12,370,320 $12,989,040 $13,607,760 $17,172,993 $56,140,113
3 $11,108,880 $11,663,880 $12,219,840 $15,445,878 $50,438,478
4 $10,015,680 $10,516,560 $11,017,560 $13,937,213 $45,487,013
5 $9,069,840 $9,523,080 $9,976,560 $12,640,302 $41,209,782
6 $8,237,640 $8,649,600 $9,061,680 $11,490,210 $37,439,130
7 $7,520,040 $7,896,240 $8,271,960 $10,505,389 $34,193,629
8 $6,889,200 $7,233,720 $7,578,240 $9,639,521 $31,340,681
9 $6,332,520 $6,649,560 $6,966,000 $8,874,684 $28,822,764
10 $6,016,080 $6,316,680 $6,617,160 $8,436,879 $27,386,799
11 $5,715,120 $6,001,080 $6,286,920 $8,342,743 $26,345,863
12 $5,429,520 $5,701,200 $5,972,760 $8,230,463 $25,333,943
13 $5,157,960 $5,416,080 $5,673,840 $8,107,917 $24,355,797
14 $4,900,320 $5,145,360 $5,390,640 $7,983,538 $23,419,858
15 $4,655,040 $4,887,720 $5,120,400 $7,849,573 $22,512,733
16 $4,422,360 $4,643,520 $4,864,920 $7,462,787 $21,393,587
17 $4,201,080 $4,411,200 $4,621,200 $7,098,163 $20,331,643
18 $3,991,320 $4,190,520 $4,390,320 $6,752,312 $19,324,472
19 $3,811,560 $4,002,000 $4,193,040 $6,457,282 $18,463,882
20 $3,658,800 $3,841,680 $4,024,440 $6,205,686 $17,730,606
21 $3,512,520 $3,688,320 $3,864,000 $6,155,352 $17,220,192
22 $3,372,240 $3,540,600 $3,709,320 $6,101,831 $16,723,991
23 $3,237,480 $3,399,480 $3,560,880 $6,042,813 $16,240,653
24 $3,108,120 $3,263,400 $3,418,800 $5,979,481 $15,769,801
25 $2,983,320 $3,132,360 $3,282,000 $5,910,882 $15,308,562
26 $2,884,560 $3,028,560 $3,172,920 $5,720,775 $14,806,815
27 $2,801,280 $2,941,440 $3,081,840 $5,559,639 $14,384,199
28 $2,783,880 $2,923,560 $3,062,640 $5,528,065 $14,298,145
29 $2,763,960 $2,902,080 $3,040,320 $5,487,778 $14,194,138
30 $2,743,800 $2,880,960 $3,018,480 $5,448,356 $14,091,596

2025’s first-round picks:

  1. Cooper Flagg (Mavericks)
  2. Dylan Harper (Spurs)
  3. VJ Edgecombe (Sixers)
  4. Kon Knueppel (Hornets)
  5. Ace Bailey (Jazz)
  6. Tre Johnson (Wizards)
  7. Jeremiah Fears (Pelicans)
  8. Egor Demin (Nets)
  9. Collin Murray-Boyles (Raptors)
  10. Khaman Maluach (Suns)
  11. Cedric Coward (Grizzlies)
  12. Noa Essengue (Bulls)
  13. Derik Queen (Pelicans)
  14. Carter Bryant (Spurs)
  15. Thomas Sorber (Thunder)
  16. Yang Hansen (Trail Blazers)
  17. Joan Beringer (Timberwolves)
  18. Walter Clayton (Jazz)
  19. Nolan Traore (Nets)
  20. Kasparas Jakucionis (Heat)
  21. Will Riley (Wizards)
  22. Drake Powell (Nets)
  23. Asa Newell (Hawks)
  24. Nique Clifford (Kings)
  25. Jase Richardson (Magic)
  26. Ben Saraf (Nets)
  27. Danny Wolf (Nets)
  28. Hugo Gonzalez (Celtics)
  29. Liam McNeeley (Hornets)
  30. Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Clippers)
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Checking In On Top Remaining NBA Free Agents

July 2nd, 2025 at 7:17am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s free agent period officially opened less than 40 hours ago, but the list of this year’s top available players has already been pretty picked clean, with 35 of the players from our list of 2025’s top 50 free agents having already agreed to terms with a team.

Here are the players from our list remain available:

  1. Josh Giddey, G, (Bulls RFA)
  2. Jonathan Kuminga, F, (Warriors RFA)
  3. Cam Thomas, G, (Nets RFA)
  4. Quentin Grimes, G, (Sixers RFA)
  5. Deandre Ayton, C (waivers)
  6. Chris Paul, G
  7. Russell Westbrook, G
  8. Al Horford, C
  9. Malcolm Brogdon, G
  10. Moritz Wagner, F/C
  11. Chris Boucher, F/C
  12. De’Anthony Melton, G
  13. Amir Coffey, G/F
  14. Precious Achiuwa, F/C
  15. Ryan Rollins, G

While four of our top 10 free agents are still on the board, all four are restricted, which means it may take some time for their situations to play out. Sign-and-trades are always a possibility, but few clubs are in position to make an aggressive play for any of these restricted free agents, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN pointed out during a TV appearance on Tuesday evening (Twitter video link).

“If this isn’t the worst market for restricted free agents in the last generation, I don’t want to see it,” Windhorst said. “There’s just no money out there for cap space, and sign-and-trades are very tough to pull off…with restricted free agents, because the team that has the rights isn’t motivated to play ball.”

There have essentially been no rumors linking Giddey, Thomas, or Grimes to any rival suitors since free agency began, so there’s still a widespread expectation that those three players will ultimately end up returning to their current teams.

That may happen with Kuminga too, but there has certainly been more chatter about alternative landing spots for the Warriors forward. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) checked in on Kuminga’s market late on Tuesday night, suggesting that the Heat, Bulls, Pelicans, and Kings are still being monitored as teams to watch for the 22-year-old, despite an apparent absence of traction on any of those fronts so far.

According to Fischer, Miami has also been linked to potential forward trade targets like DeMar DeRozan and John Collins; Chicago still has Giddey’s own restricted free agency to resolve, and Golden State appears to have “moved away” from past trade interest in Nikola Vucevic; New Orleans doesn’t have an obvious path to make a realistic offer for Kuminga; and while Sacramento would have interest in sending out Malik Monk as part of a sign-and-trade, no momentum has developed there.

With those top four RFAs in limbo for the time being, Ayton – who will clear waivers at 4:00 pm Central time on Wednesday – may be the most intriguing option on the board. According to Fischer, a number of front offices around the NBA expect the former No. 1 overall pick to end up with the Lakers, but the Pacers have also shown interest, as did the Bucks before they agreed to a surprising deal with Myles Turner. Indiana, notably, is the team that signed Ayton to a maximum-salary offer sheet in free agency three years ago, and the same decision-makers are still running that front office.

Paul and Westbrook are two of the most accomplished NBA point guards of the last two decades. Paul is known to want to play close to his home in Los Angeles, so while the Bucks are among the teams that have expressed interest in him, per Chris Haynes on NBA TV (Twitter video link), a team like the Clippers or Suns may be a more realistic landing spot. Haynes adds that he thought Westbrook would land with the Kings, but as long as Monk remains on Sacramento’s roster, that looks like a long shot.

It’s worth noting there’s one big name who was not on our pre-free-agency top 50 because he has only become available since then: Damian Lillard.

The Bucks haven’t officially waived Lillard yet, but he’s expected to reach the open market in the near future, and according to Eric Nehm, Sam Amick, and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, many teams – including the Lakers, Celtics, and Warriors – have reached out and registered interest in signing him even while he recovers from his Achilles tear.

Still, Jamal Collier of ESPN hears that there’s no guarantee that Lillard will sign anywhere for the 2025/26 season, which he’ll likely miss most or all of. He’s reportedly expected to remain based in Portland while doing his rehab work.

Among the other names in the back half of our top 50, Horford is the most intriguing. He has been linked to several teams, including – most consistently – Golden State. The Warriors are still a leading contender to land the veteran big man, per Fischer.

Finally, we should mention Malik Beasley, who ranked 15th on our initial top-50 list before word broke that he was under investigation for gambling allegations. Beasley was reportedly discussing a three-year, $42MM deal with Detroit prior to that news, but it’s hard to imagine any team signing him until that legal situation is resolved, which is why we took him off our list entirely. Since that investigation was reported, a pair of follow-up reports have detailed Beasley’s financial issues, though it’s crucial to note that he doesn’t currently face any charges.

All of the free agent deals agreed upon so far can be found within our 2025 free agent tracker. The full list of free agents still available can be found right here (or here, if you prefer to sort by team rather than by position/type).

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NBA 2025 Free Agency: July 1 Recap

July 1st, 2025 at 11:42pm CST by Luke Adams

After a number of this year’s top free agents came off the board on Monday or in the days leading up to June 30, the Bucks nearly singlehandedly made sure there was still plenty of NBA news to talk about on Tuesday.

Milwaukee agreed to terms on two-year deals with big man Jericho Sims and veteran wing Gary Harris. They also agreed to a deal that will send Pat Connaughton to the Hornets.

But the main event for the Bucks was reaching a four-year, $107MM contract agreement with Myles Turner, the starting center for the division-rival Pacers for the past decade. After the deal between Turner and the Bucks was reported, we spent about 10 minutes wondering how the over-the-cap club was going to pull off the move before another bombshell dropped: Milwaukee was waiving injured star Damian Lillard with two years left on his contract and stretching the $112.6MM owed to him across the next five seasons in order to help create the cap room necessary to sign Turner.

It’s a shocking move that will allow the Bucks to land one of the summer’s top free agents in the short term while potentially creating major cap-related complications in the long term.

Given that the front office is dead-set on building a contender around Giannis Antetokounmpo, it wasn’t ideal that one report referred to the two-time MVP as “not pleased” about Lillard being waived just over two months after tearing his Achilles.

But Lillard, at least, didn’t seem to mind, with another report describing him as “elated” to get to have control over his future while still getting paid by the Bucks.

Here are several more of the major headlines from July 1, along with links to our stories:

Free agent deals

Other top headlines

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