Pacers Rumors

Contract Details: Aldama, Jerome, Spencer, Booker, Jackson, Broome

The three-year, $52.5MM contract that restricted free agent Santi Aldama signed with the Grizzlies includes a third-year team option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The deal is front-loaded, with an $18.49MM salary in year one before it dips to $17MM in year two. The team option for 2027/28 is also worth $17MM.

Meanwhile, the three-year, $27.66MM deal that Ty Jerome finalized with the Grizzlies is worth the full room exception, as expected. Jerome’s contract – which includes a third-year player option, as previously reported – also features a 15% trade kicker, notes Scotto (Twitter link).

Finally, Cam Spencer‘s new four-year contract with Memphis is worth roughly $10.4MM in total. The team used cap room to give Spencer a salary of $2,537,989 in year one, with minimum salaries for the remaining three years of the deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As previously reported, the first three seasons are fully guaranteed, with a fourth-year team option for 2028/29.

Here are a few more details on some of the recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

  • Devin Booker‘s new two-year, maximum-salary extension with the Suns only features one fully guaranteed year. The second season is a player option for the 2029/30 season, tweets Scotto.
  • Isaiah Jackson‘s three-year, $21MM contract with the Pacers is front-loaded, Hoops Rumors has learned. Jackson will earn $7.6MM in 2025/26, followed by salaries of $7MM in ’26/27 and $6.4MM in ’27/28.
  • Johni Broome‘s four-year contract with the Sixers, previously said to be guaranteed for two seasons, is worth $8.69MM, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That means Broome will be earning his minimum salary in each year of the deal, starting with a cap hit of $1,272,870 in year one.

Top 45 Picks From 2025 Draft Have Signed NBA Contracts

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.

And-Ones: Veteran Extensions, Summer League, Rubio, Arcidiacono

This offseason has seen a trio of Thunder players receive maximum-salary contract extensions in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, with Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. and Suns guard Devin Booker among the other veterans who have signed – or at least agreed to – lucrative extensions.

That still leaves several dominoes to fall, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, many of which are more interesting than your usual run-of-the-mill negotiations. It has already been reported that Nikola Jokic isn’t expected to sign a new deal with the Nuggets, for instance, as he would be eligible for a much higher number if he waits a year.

Another example of a conversation that is more complicated than it would appear is the Lakers and Luka Doncic. Because Doncic was traded while on his second contract, he is not super-max eligible. Because of that, it’s possible that he could negotiate to remove his player option and extend for three years with a player option, which would set him up for a new deal in 2028 that would be worth the 35% max for 10-year veterans.

Kristaps Porzingis and Trae Young of the Hawks, Darius Garland with the Cavaliers, Mikal Bridges with the Knicks, Kevin Durant with the Rockets, De’Aaron Fox with the Spurs, and Toumani Camara with the Trail Blazers are among the other extension candidates Hollinger identifies and examines.

We have more from around the world of hoops:

  • The beauty of Summer League is that there’s something for every fan base to find hope in. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton and Jeremy Woo go through all 30 rosters to spotlight a player to watch for every team. While some, like Cooper Flagg in Dallas, are obvious, not every team has a top pick. Pelton points to LJ Cryer for the Warriors and Kobe Brown for the Clippers, while Woo looks at Kobe Bufkin for the Hawks and Taelon Peter for the Pacers, among others.
  • Ricky Rubio recently opened up about his mental health struggles that have kept him out of basketball for the last year. He spoke with Jorge Quiroga of Marca about his time with the Timberwolves, saying, “I had a rough time in my third year. Things weren’t going well, and I gave an interview to a journalist. My parents came to see me in Minneapolis, and after the game, I talked to my mom and cried, telling her I wanted to leave.” When it comes to his future, he said, “I’d like to play basketball without being Ricky Rubio, but it’s impossible. I want to play basketball, but I can’t. I’m trying my best to see if I can.”
  • Former Knicks guard Ryan Arcidiacono has agreed to a deal with Trapani Shark, a Sicilian-based team in Italy’s top league, per a press release. Arcidiacano played seven years in the NBA, averaging 4.0 points and 1.9 assists per game. He most recently played with the Windy City Bulls in the G League, averaging 8.2 PPG and 3.3 APG in 21 minutes a night.

Pacers Re-Sign Isaiah Jackson To Three-Year Deal

3:59 pm: Jackson has officially re-signed with the Pacers, the team announced today in a press release.


2:59 pm: The Pacers and restricted free agent center Isaiah Jackson have reached an agreement on a new three-year contract worth $21MM, agents Drew Morrison and Sam Rose tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 22nd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Jackson played a modest role through his first four seasons in Indiana, averaging 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 15.0 minutes per game across 163 appearances (31 starts). He missed nearly the entire 2024/25 season due to a right Achilles tear that he suffered in the sixth game of the season.

James Wiseman, who sustained a torn Achilles of his own in the Pacers’ regular season opener last October, appeared to have moved ahead of Jackson on the center depth chart entering the season. Given that context and the fact that Jackson is now coming off a major injury, it was somewhat surprising that the 23-year-old received a $6.4MM qualifying offer from Indiana last month to make him a restricted free agent.

That qualifying offer and this new three-year agreement are strong signals that the Pacers still believe in Jackson’s potential and feel good about where he’s at in his recovery from Achilles surgery.

The QO also makes more sense in retrospect knowing that Myles Turner‘s return to Indiana wasn’t the virtual lock that it seemed to be entering the free agent period. With Turner now in Milwaukee, Jackson will have an opportunity this fall to compete for minutes at center with Jay Huff, Tony Bradley, and Wiseman, who has returned to the Pacers on a new deal of his own.

Jackson’s new deal will give the Pacers 15 players on standard contracts for 2025/26, though Wiseman only has a partial guarantee and Bradley’s 2025/26 salary is non-guaranteed, so it’s possible those two big men will be battling for a single roster spot.

Contract Details: A. Jackson, K. Jones, Small, Sanders, Bagley

The Bucks originally had a July 7 deadline to decide whether or not they wanted to guarantee Andre Jackson‘s full $2.22MM salary for the 2025/26 season, but reporting on Monday indicated that the team had awarded the guard a partial guarantee on that figure as part of an agreement to move back his full salary guarantee date.

According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), Jackson received an $800K partial guarantee as part of that agreement, locking in a little over a third of his ’25/26 salary. His new guarantee date will be one day before the start of the regular season in the fall.

In other words, if Jackson earns a spot on the Bucks’ opening night roster, his full salary for next season will be locked in, but the team has a few more months to make that decision.

Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:

  • Kam Jones‘ four-year, $8.7MM contract with the Pacers is fully guaranteed in year one, with a 50% partial guarantee for year two, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That means only about $2.35MM of Jones’ total salary will be guaranteed, including $1.27MM in year one. The 6’5″ guard was the 38th overall pick in last month’s draft.
  • The two-way contract that No. 48 overall pick Javon Small signed with the Grizzlies will cover two seasons, per Scotto (Twitter link). That will put Small on track for restricted free agency in 2027 if he’s not promoted (or waived) before then.
  • Kobe Sanders‘ two-way contract with the Clippers is also for two years, tweets Smith. Sanders was the No. 50 overall pick in the 2025 draft.
  • Marvin Bagley III‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Wizards is guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. Washington now has 16 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Richaun Holmes and Justin Champagnie on non-guaranteed deals, so some roster moves will be necessary in D.C. at some point — the team won’t have to resolve that situation until the day before the regular season, however.

Central Notes: Giannis, Turner, Pacers, Lanier, Holland

Appearing on a live stream in Greece on Thursday with YouTube personality IShowSpeed, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked if his plan is to remain in Milwaukee going forward.

“Probably,” Antetokounmpo said (Twitter video link). “We’ll see. Probably. I love Milwaukee.”

While any public statement that Antetokounmpo makes about his future is notable, it’s hard to draw any definitive conclusions from those brief comments — they’re pretty much what you’d expect him to say if he hasn’t requested a trade but also hasn’t yet decisively committed to not asking for a trade. And by all accounts, that’s where his situation currently stands.

As we wait for a more conclusive update on Giannis’ future, the Bucks and their fans can take solace in the “probably” part of his response on Thursday, while potential suitors will likely be emboldened by the “we’ll see.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • After signing with the Bucks on Monday following 10 years in Indiana, Myles Turner published a farewell to Pacers fans on his Instagram account on Thursday. “This chapter is closing, but the respect and love I have for this city and its people is forever,” Turner wrote within a much longer statement. “Thank you Indy, from the bottom of my heart. I mean it when I say The 317 will always be home. And I’ve been proud to call myself a Hoosier! I hope you continue to embrace me as much as I’ve always embraced you!”
  • Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star shares three takeaways from the Pacers‘ victory in their first Las Vegas Summer League game on Thursday, noting that two-way players RayJ Dennis (26 points, nine assists) and Quenton Jackson (24 points on 8-of-10 shooting) were among the standouts. It would be a boon for the Pacers if Dennis emerges as a reliable option at the NBA level, Dopirak observes, since the team will be on the lookout for additional point guard depth with Tyrese Haliburton out for the entire 2025/26 season.
  • Pistons second-round pick Chaz Lanier believes he’s capable of “immediately” playing a role for his new NBA team as a rookie, he told reporters during his introductory press conference this week. “Coming in to do whatever they need me to do,” Lanier said, per Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News. “Coming in and making shots when I need to. … I am a shooter first, that is what I hang my hat on; putting the ball in the basket. However, I believe that at the NBA level, you need to be able to make an impact on defense. That is how I plan on making my mark.”
  • Pistons forward Ron Holland, who turned 20 on Monday, was pleased that he was able to earn an every-game rotation role as a rookie last season, but he feels like he “left a lot on the table” and “could’ve done more,” as Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press relays (subscription required). “That’s definitely putting a chip on my shoulder and being able to go into next season trying to thrive and get better every single day,” Holland said.

Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup

The NBA has officially announced the six groups of five teams apiece for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament (Twitter link).

In order to set the groups, the league splits the Western and Eastern Conferences into five three-team tiers based on last season’s regular season standings, with one club from each tier randomly drawn into each of the conference’s three groups.

For instance, the top three teams from the West will all be in separate groups, with each of those three groups also featuring one team in the 4-6 range, one in the 7-9 range, and so on.

Here are the groups for the 2025 NBA Cup:

  • West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (6), Sacramento Kings (9), Phoenix Suns (11), Utah Jazz (15)
  • West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers (3), Los Angeles Clippers (5), Memphis Grizzlies (8), Dallas Mavericks (10), New Orleans Pelicans (14)
  • West Group C: Houston Rockets (2), Denver Nuggets (4), Golden State Warriors (7), Portland Trail Blazers (12), San Antonio Spurs (13)
  • East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Indiana Pacers (4), Atlanta Hawks (8), Toronto Raptors (11), Washington Wizards (15)
  • East Group B: Boston Celtics (2), Detroit Pistons (6), Orlando Magic (7), Brooklyn Nets (12), Philadelphia 76ers (13)
  • East Group C: New York Knicks (3), Milwaukee Bucks (5), Chicago Bulls (9), Miami Heat (10), Charlotte Hornets (14)

The round-robin group play games will be starting a little earlier than usual this season and will run from October 31 to November 28. Each team will face the other four clubs in its group once, with the winners of each group and one wild card team from each conference advancing to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

The full schedule of group play games can be viewed right here.

The quarterfinals will be played on December 9-10, with the semifinals and final to follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively, in Las Vegas. The knockout round games will all be aired by one of the NBA’s new broadcasting partners, Amazon Prime.

The Bucks won last season’s NBA Cup, with star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earning MVP honors after leading Milwaukee to a victory over the Thunder in the championship game.

Central Notes: Pistons, Ivey, Nance, Nesmith, Mathurin

Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon spoke about the size and shooting that Duncan Robinson will bring to the team and lauded Caris LeVert for his defensive versatility, ball-handling, and “unselfish brand of basketball.” He also pointed out that both newcomers have plenty of postseason experience.

However, Langdon also made it clear that the additions of Robinson and LeVert aren’t the only reasons why he’s enthusiastic about his team’s potential in 2025/26.

“I think the one thing that does get lost in all of this, to be honest with you, is (Jaden Ivey‘s) return,” Langdon said. “A lot of people are saying, who are you filling with these guys that are exiting. I say, well, we have a pretty good free agent pickup in J.I., so I think he’s going to fill a lot of those point guard roles and play-making roles.”

In addition to getting Ivey back, the Pistons also expect young cornerstones like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren to continue improving.

“We have a chance to compete next year,” Langdon said. “The main thing for us is continuing to let these young guys develop and they’re in the gym working their butt off. Like I said from initially in the summer, if they get better, we’re going to be better. So it was finding pieces to complement our young players and their growth and ability to reach their potential. I think with our two additions, we got bigger and we want to continue to put them around guys who can play-make. That’s going to continue to help Cade grow and develop.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • After the Pistons generated a $14.1MM traded player exception in their sign-and-trade deal sending Dennis Schröder to Sacramento, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic considers what sort of players it might make sense to target using that TPE. Herb Jones, Goga Bitadze, and Brandon Clarke are among the names he suggests.
  • A member of the Cavaliers from 2018-21, Larry Nance Jr. has remained close with the organization since then and spent his summers in Cleveland in the years, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). That’s one reason why it came as no surprise that the Ohio native signed a deal to return to the Cavs this offseason. “It just made too much sense, you know? I knew I would (be back one day). I didn’t know when,” Nance said. “… This is a team that’s really got a chance to win it all. And that’s the goal. That’s why I came back, and that’s what we’re going to do this year.”
  • Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin will be extension-eligible ahead of the start of the 2025/26 regular season and the Pacers plan to discuss new deals for them, but president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is preaching patience, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “Can I just have like 24 hours please?” Pritchard said when asked on Monday about potential Mathurin and Nesmith extensions. “Literally, guys, we went straight from the Finals to the draft to free agency to Summer League. … We’ll look at all those kinds of things. But I think that’s a little premature. We have all summer and up until next year to do those.” Dopirak views Nesmith (who will be extension-eligible starting in October) as a no-brainer candidate for a new contract but acknowledges that Mathurin’s situation is a little more complicated.

Pacers Sign Kam Jones, Quenton Jackson

The Pacers have officially announced a pair of signings, issuing a press release to say that they’ve finalized a standard contract with second-round pick Kam Jones and have brought back restricted free agent guard Quenton Jackson on a two-way deal.

A 6’5″ combo guard, Jones spent his entire four-year college career at Marquette, where he was a consensus second-team All-American and a member of the All-Big East first team in 2025 after averaging 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per game across 34 outings as a senior.

Pacers president of basketball operations said on Monday that Jones reminds him of Andrew Nembhard as a player and Tyrese Haliburton as a person, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

“He’s hyper-positive,” Pritchard said. “… He’s got that kind of an ‘it factor’ of, that’s a Pacer.”

Indiana drafted Jones using the No. 38 overall pick, which the team had agreed to acquire a day earlier from San Antonio in exchange for a future second-round pick and cash. The rookie guard will occupy a spot on the Pacers’ 15-man roster in 2025/26 after signing a four-year, $8.7MM contract, according to Tony East of Locked on Pacers (Twitter link), who says the deal includes a good deal of non-guaranteed money in the later seasons.

As for Jackson, he received a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent after finishing each of the past two seasons on two-way deals with Indiana. The former undrafted free agent averaged 5.8 PPG, 1.9 APG and 1.6 RPG on .475/.375/.775 shooting in 28 games (13.6 MPG) in ’24/25 for the Pacers.

With Jackson back under contract on another two-way deal alongside RayJ Dennis, the Pacers have two of their three slots filled. The leading candidate for that third opening is probably Enrique Freeman, given that Indiana still has a two-way qualifying offer on the table to the 2024 second-rounder.

Contract Details: KPJ, J. Smith, Wiseman, Schröder, Stevens

Despite the fact that the Bucks used their room exception to complete the signing, guard Kevin Porter Jr. received the exact value of the bi-annual exception on his new two-year deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. The first year is worth $5,134,000, with a second-year player option worth $5,390,700. The move leaves roughly $3.65MM on Milwaukee’s room exception.

A player who re-signs with his previous team on either a one-year contract or a two-year deal with a second-year option is typically awarded the right to veto a trade for the rest of that season. However, Porter is one of a few players, along with Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes, who have waived that right as part of their new deals.

Sixers guard Eric Gordon and Raptors wing Garrett Temple have also given up that right to veto a trade, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

We have more details on some of the recently signed contracts from around the league:

  • Jabari Smith Jr.‘s five-year, $122MM rookie scale extension with the Rockets declines in the second season before increasing in each of the final three years, notes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. That dip in 2027/28 comes during the season in which an extension for Amen Thompson figures to be hitting Houston’s books — it could also be the final year of Kevin Durant‘s contract, if he signs a two-year extension with the team at some point.
  • James Wiseman‘s new two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Pacers, which features a second-year team option, is partially guaranteed for $1MM in 2025/26, Hoops Rumors has learned. If Wiseman’s option for ’26/27 is exercised, that year’s salary would be partially guaranteed for roughly $1.13MM.
  • Dennis Schröder‘s three-year deal with the Kings, which is worth exactly the three-year value of the mid-level exception ($44,427,600), is partially guaranteed for $4.35MM in the third year, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Although the contract fits into the MLE, Sacramento is believed to have used an existing trade exception to accommodate the acquisition of Schröder.
  • Isaiah Stevens‘ two-way contract agreement with the Kings will cover two years, according to Scotto (Twitter link).