Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Knicks' options with their open roster spots, the Clippers' omission from the Christmas Day schedule, the Thunder's chances to set the regular season win record, Trae Young's future in Atlanta and more!
The NBA's offseason news wire has slowed down since Summer League ended, but there's still no shortage of storylines to follow in August. Since the month began, Luka Doncic, De'Aaron Fox, and Mikal Bridges have signed lucrative new extensions, and top restricted free agents like Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, and Cam Thomas are still working on new contracts.
As we await further updates on the summer's top remaining free agents and extension candidates, I'm taking a closer look today at some of the stories that have caught my eye as of late. That includes taking a closer look at how the new luxury tax rates are affecting projected tax bills, how the extend-and-trade rules might affect players traded this summer, and whether a Kuminga/Giddey double sign-and-trade could really work.
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included Jonathan Kuminga's standoff with the Warriors, De'Aaron Fox's future after signing an extension, new speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lakers' strategy of focusing on the 2027 free agent class and more!
It has been nearly three weeks since the most recent NBA trade was officially completed, but it's safe to assume there will be many more deals made during the 2025/26 league year.
Outside of the flurry of trade agreements reached just ahead of the deadline in February, there's usually some action earlier in the regular season and during the weeks leading up to opening night -- in each of the past five years, multiple trades have been finalized during the last month before the regular season tips off.
A number of the trades made between now and February's deadline will be financially motivated. Several teams around the NBA are operating just a little above the luxury tax line and will want to get out of taxpayer territory before the end of the season. Other teams are probably too far above the tax line to realistically become a non-taxpayer, but may look to move off a contract or two in order to reduce their end-of-season payment.
Conversely, a handful of clubs are operating far below the luxury tax line - or even below the salary cap - and are in a prime position to accommodate deals for potential trade partners looking to cut costs.
We're focusing today on which teams across the league fit into each of these categories, identifying the clubs who are the most likely to try to shed or take on salary in the next six-plus months.
Let's dive in...
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Wizards' potential interest in Josh Giddey, the Celtics' limited center options, the Bulls' stagnant offseason, a possible Victor Oladipo comeback and more!
When the 2025 offseason began, only one team - Brooklyn - had a clear path to significant cap room. While there were other teams that could get there, including Memphis and Detroit, those clubs would have needed to renounce key free agents or make cost-cutting moves to open up real space.
The Nets did in fact operate under the cap, as expected, and they were joined by just two other teams. The Grizzlies were one, but the Pistons weren't the other. It was another Central Division club - the Bucks - who also unexpectedly ducked under the cap.
While Brooklyn's path to cap room was obvious, given the lack of sizable contracts on their roster entering the summer, the moves the Grizzlies and Bucks made to create space of their own were a little less straightforward.
With that in mind, we want to take a look back and trace the steps those two teams took to generate the cap room necessary to complete a pair of major signings: Myles Turner's four-year free agent deal for Milwaukee and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s contract renegotiation for Memphis.
Let's dive in...
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Celtics' plans to clear more salary, Marcus Smart's impact with the Lakers, the Knicks' interest in Ben Simmons, Jalen Green's future in Phoenix and more!
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included whether LeBron James will stay with the Lakers, potential challengers to Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year honors, Bradley Beal's post-buyout options, what Paul George's surgery means for the Sixers and more!
After NBA teams spent the week officially finalizing many of the trades and free agent signings they'd agreed to during the July moratorium (or earlier), we're starting to get a clearer sense of trends emerging among the contracts signed in 2025/26, as well as a better idea of how teams are managing their cap exceptions and apron-related restrictions.
With that in mind, we're taking a closer look today at some of those contract trends, as well as a unique trade kicker, a cap-related decision facing the Nuggets, and a new use of the bi-annual exception.
Let's dive in...
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included Bradley Beal's next team, the Warriors' inaction on the free agent market, Damian Lillard's future, the Clippers' chances to land Beal and Chris Paul and more!