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Eastern Notes: Giannis, Nets, Hawks, Pistons

July 2nd, 2025 at 10:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In the wake of Tuesday reports stating that Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking forward to teaming up with Myles Turner while not being “pleased” about how Damian Lillard‘s release was handled, Shams Charnaia of ESPN (YouTube link) stressed that the Bucks star won’t be making any decisions on his future simply based on what happened on July 1.

“I’m told Giannis Antetokounmpo will continue to evaluate everything. The entire offseason,” Charania said. “He took notice of this move, no doubt, but sources tell me he will evaluate more than just one day. And at the end of the offseason, my understanding is Giannis Antetokounmpo will ask himself, he’ll look in the mirror, he’ll look around him, and ask the question, ‘Can I win a championship – a second championship – with this team as currently constructed?'”

While Antetokounmpo may take some time to make a final decision on what his future holds – ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (Twitter video link) speculates that it might not happen until August or September – Tuesday’s activity will significantly limit the Bucks’ ability to continue being active in free agency.

As John Hollinger and Eric Nehm of The Athletic detail, Milwaukee had to make a series of moves beyond waiving and stretching Lillard’s contract just to create the cap space necessary to land Turner and is subsequently expected to use its room exception to re-sign Kevin Porter and Gary Trent. That would leave the Bucks only able to make minimum-salary signings, though the team does still have one movable first-round pick (either 2031 or 2032) that could be dangled in trade talks.

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

The Nets made NBA history when they selected five players in the first round of the 2025 draft. Now, Brooklyn faces a unique challenge when it comes to finding a way to develop everyone in the short term alongside the club’s already-youthful roster, observes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “They’re going to have to earn it,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “That’s how it should be. They’ll put the work in. They’ve already shown who they are. That’s why we drafted them… Then it’s going to be my decision to go and put five guys on the court, to have a 10-man rotation and go through the process.”
Nets general manager Sean Marks registered his excitement about the additions of rookies Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf to the fold. “To be able to draft all of them in a draft class we just saw, that was unique,” Marks said, per Lewis. “That was something we want to take advantage of, especially in our build, where we see these young men fitting into our group and into our roster. So, it was about us capitalizing on the hand we were dealt.”
Looking to vault up the East standings, the Hawks made a flurry of tactical offseason moves to lift up its current core of All-Star guard Trae Young, rising forward Jalen Johnson, All-Defensive guard Dyson Daniels and 2024 No. 1 draft pick Zaccharie Risacher. Jared Weiss of The Athletic wonders if the additions of center Kristaps Porzingis, wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and sharpshooting guard Luke Kennard can help maximize Young as an offensive focal point — or if they’ve also been brought in place to elevate the younger group, led by the 23-year-old Johnson, 22-year-old Daniels, and 20-year-old Risacher. Young, who holds a player option for 2026/27, will become eligible this weekend for an extension worth up to $222MM over four years.
The Pistons made a pair of key moves along the wing in free agency, agreeing to deals with former Miami sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and ex-Atlanta reserve Caris LeVert. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) takes a look at the fits of both new additions to a growing young Detroit club. LeVert is an above-average play-maker at his position and can theoretically help spell All-Star Cade Cunningham off the bench, while Robinson elevates the team’s long range shooting.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Bucks Waive Chris Livingston

July 2nd, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have waived forward Chris Livingston, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com.

Livingston had two years left on the contract he signed with Milwaukee as a second-round pick in 2023, but his $2.22MM salary for 2025/26 was non-guaranteed as long as he was placed on waivers on or before July 15. As a result, it will no longer count against the Bucks’ cap.

The 58th overall pick in 2023 out of Kentucky, Livingston struggled to earn minutes over the course of two seasons in Milwaukee, making just 42 total appearances and averaging 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game.

The 21-year-old did show some promise at the G League level. In 18 outings for the Wisconsin Herd this past season, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.5 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .485/.301/.828.

Releasing Livingston will generate a little extra cap room for the Bucks, who are making a series of transactions to create the space necessary to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with Myles Turner when the July moratorium ends.

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:

Josh Giddey, G, (Bulls RFA)
Jonathan Kuminga, F, (Warriors RFA)
Cam Thomas, G, (Nets RFA)
Quentin Grimes, G, (Sixers RFA)
Deandre Ayton, C (waivers)
Chris Paul, G
Russell Westbrook, G
Al Horford, C
Malcolm Brogdon, G
Moritz Wagner, F/C
Chris Boucher, F/C
De’Anthony Melton, G
Amir Coffey, G/F
Precious Achiuwa, F/C
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).

Free Agency Notes: Turner, Lillard, Kuminga, Clarkson, Beasley

July 1st, 2025 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required), the Pacers offered up to $95MM over four years for Myles Turner before he agreed to sign with the Bucks. Earlier reporting suggested Indiana didn’t go above roughly $60MM over three years.

Doyel shares that tidbit within a column defending the Pacers and castigating Turner’s camp for referring to Indiana’s “aversion to the tax” in leaks to ESPN, portraying the four-year, $95MM bid as a strong offer. Given the slant of the piece, it’s worth taking the report with a grain of salt.

Even if the Pacers did get up to $95MM, that offer would have come in quite a bit below the $107MM deal Turner is getting in Milwaukee and would also fall well short of the going rate for quality starting centers in recent years — Jarrett Allen and Jakob Poeltl have gotten $30MM and $28MM annually on their most recent extensions, for example. Even Naz Reid, who has been a reserve in recent years, received $25MM per year over the weekend.

Here are a few more notes and rumors related to free agency:

During a TV appearance on ESPN (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape says star point guard Damian Lillard intends to rehab his Achilles tear in Portland to be close to his family, whether or not he signs with a team in the near future. Spears also says that at least 10 clubs – including the Warriors (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN) – have touched base with Lillard since word of his release broke, and adds that there’s “speculation” the 34-year-old could be back around the All-Star break. Given that Lillard just sustained the injury in late April, that timeline feels a little aggressive to me, but it sounds like he might aim to make it back before the end of the 2025/26 season.
There’s very little money available on the open market for this summer’s top restricted free agents, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stated during a TV appearance (Twitter video link). Windhorst went on to say that it might be in the Warriors‘ and Jonathan Kuminga‘s best interests to work out a deal and possibly revisit the trade market down the road. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter video link) says he hasn’t heard “any traction” about a sign-and-trade deal to the Bulls, who have been rumored as a potential suitor for Kuminga.
As first reported by Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), veteran guard Jordan Clarkson gave up the exact amount of his minimum salary (roughly $3.6MM) when he agreed to a buyout with the Jazz, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That will reduce his cap hit on Utah’s books from about $14.3MM to roughly $10.7MM, and he’ll make up the difference when he signs his new contract with the Knicks.
In another troubling report on free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley, who is under federal investigation for gambling allegations, Robert Snell of The Detroit News takes a deep dive into court records that paint a picture of Beasley’s financial issues in recent years. According to Snell, Beasley owed debts to his landlord, barber, and dentist, and pledged his current and future NBA contracts as collateral last August when he signed a deal with a Florida firm for a bridge loan.

FA Rumors: Rollins, Kings, Westbrook, Robinson, Pistons, Lakers, Horford

July 1st, 2025 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are rescinding their qualifying offer to free agent guard Ryan Rollins, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Rollins opened the new league year as a restricted free agent, but this decision will make him unrestricted.

The move is probably more about maximizing the Bucks’ cap room than an indication the team no longer has no interest in retaining Rollins. Milwaukee is making a series of moves in order to open up the space necessary to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107MM contract.

Still, it means that the Bucks will no longer have the right of first refusal on Rollins, so he could sign outright with a new team without Milwaukee having a chance to match.

Rollins had a bit of a breakout season in 2024/25, registering averages of 6.2 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game, along with a shooting line of .487/.408/.800. He had only made 25 appearances across two NBA seasons prior to ’24/25.

We have several more items of interest relating to free agency:

After reportedly discussing a deal with the Pistons, the Kings won’t be sending out Malik Monk as part of their Dennis Schröder addition, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter links). Schröder could still be acquired via sign-and-trade, since Sacramento has a trade exception large enough to accommodate his three-year, $45MM deal, but it sounds like he may end up just going into the team’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
With Monk staying in Sacramento, the Kings are less likely to sign free agent point guard Russell Westbrook, Stein adds (via Twitter).
After opting out of his contract on Sunday, free agent forward Duncan Robinson appears unlikely to return to the Heat, multiple league sources tell Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is exploring sign-and-trade opportunities and the Pistons are among the interested teams, an Eastern Conference source tells the authors. Robinson is the franchise leader for most made three-pointers, but his playing time declined this season and the Heat may consider it too costly to bring him back. A contract agreement with Davion Mitchell gives Miami $173.8MM committed to 14 players for next season, about $14MM away from the luxury tax. Chiang and Jackson suggest the team might re-sign free agent Alec Burks to fill Robinson’s role as a three-point specialist.
Signing Deandre Ayton once he clears waivers remains a possibility, but the Lakers are also exploring other options in free agency and trades, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Al Horford is getting “serious consideration” from both the Lakers and Warriors.

Arthur Hill contributed to this story.

Agent: Being Waived Is ‘Incredible Opportunity’ For Lillard

July 1st, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks‘ surprising decision to waive Damian Lillard with two guaranteed years left on his contract is being met with significant enthusiasm by at least one involved party: Lillard himself.

League sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that Lillard, who will spend the 2025/26 season recovering from an Achilles tear, is “elated” with the move, since it will give him the opportunity to join a team of his choosing while still being paid the $112MM+ he was owed by the Bucks.

Amick refers to it as a “dream scenario” for the star point guard, who struggled at times with the on-court fit in Milwaukee and found it challenging to be away from his children after spending the first 11 years of his playing career in Portland.

As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian relays (via Twitter), Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin put out a statement essentially confirming Amick’s report.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for Damian,” Goodwin said. “He receives all of his money guaranteed, and it provides him an opportunity to decide his next destination as an unrestricted free agent. He gets a chance to rehab at home if he chooses to, and be with his family and his kids for the next year. The goal is for him to take his time and make a decision on what his next destination will be.”

As we relayed earlier, Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team.

According to Amick, the 34-year-old has already received calls from contending teams since word broke that he was being waived by Milwaukee.

Jericho Sims To Re-Sign With Bucks

July 1st, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jericho Sims will return to the Bucks on a two-year contract, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll have a player option on the second season of the deal.

The 26-year-old big man appeared in 14 games, all off the bench, after being acquired from New York in a four-team trade at the deadline. He averaged 2.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in 15 minutes per night with Milwaukee.

Terms of the new deal weren’t released, but Sims will get at least a modest raise over the $2MM he made in the final season of the three-year contract he signed with the Knicks. His minimum salary this season will be $2.46MM.

New York selected Sims with the 58th pick in 2021, but he was in and out of coach Tom Thibodeau‘s rotation during his three and a half years with the team. He has a chance to claim a larger role in his first full season with Milwaukee, possibly as the primary backup for newly acquired center Myles Turner.

The Bucks have been active since free agency began Monday evening, waiving and stretching Damian Lillard to create cap room for Turner, re-signing free agents Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince and trading Pat Connaughton to Charlotte in exchange for Vasilije Micic.

Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst approached the offseason determined to put together a contender to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo from asking for a trade and has been very aggressive in the first 24 hours of free agency.

Bucks To Trade Connaughton To Hornets For Micic

July 1st, 2025 at 11:45am CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have agreed to trade veteran forward Pat Connaughton and two second-round picks to the Hornets for guard Vasilije Micic, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The second-rounders heading to Charlotte will be Milwaukee’s own in 2031 and 2032, Charania adds.

As Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron tweets, Micic ($8.1MM) only makes about $1.3MM less than Connaughton ($9.4MM) next season, but the Serbian has been repeatedly rumored to be seeking a return to Europe this summer, and could give up a significant portion of his salary in a buyout. Assuming that comes to fruition, it should give the Bucks enough cap room to sign Myles Turner after waiving and stretching Damian Lillard.

Connaughton, 32, was an important reserve for the Bucks when they won the title in 2021 and has been with the team for the past seven years. However, in part due to injuries, he hasn’t looked like the same player in recent years, having been out of Milwaukee’s rotation for much of 2024/25.

Connaughton averaged 5.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on .469/.321/.774 shooting in 41 regular season games last season (14.7 minutes per contest). He only played 14 minutes over three appearances during the Bucks’ first-round playoff series vs. Indiana, which Milwaukee lost in five games.

Charlotte will acquire a couple of second-round picks for taking on Connaughton’s expiring contract. The Hornets just reacquired Micic yesterday when the Mark Williams trade with Phoenix became official.

Giannis ‘Not Pleased’ With Bucks’ Decision To Waive Lillard?

July 1st, 2025 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

Superstar Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is “not pleased” with the team’s decision to waive Damian Lillard, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

In a shocking pair of moves, the Bucks will waive Lillard and stretch the $112MM+ remaining on his contract after the star point guard suffered an Achilles tear in April, and will sign standout free agent center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107MM deal using the newly created cap room.

The Bucks’ aggressive approach to the offseason was certainly fueled by a desire to stay in contention in the short term and take advantage of Antetokounmpo’s prime years, with Lillard likely to miss most or all of 2025/26. So if Giannis isn’t happy about any of their moves, that’s problematic.

Still, it’s worth noting that ESPN’s Shams Charania has indicated Antetokounmpo was on board with the acquisition of Turner. Within his story on the Bucks’ moves, Charania writes that Antetokounmpo and Turner “both valued the opportunity to partner on the court.”

During an appearance on NBA TV (Twitter video link), Haynes suggested that Antetokounmpo may simply be reacting to the coldness of waiving Lillard – an accomplished and respected veteran star – shortly after he suffered such a major injury.

“He just didn’t like how it was handled,” Haynes said.

For what it’s worth, Lillard might view the situation as a win-win, Marc J. Spears of Andscape tweets, since adjusting to Milwaukee away from his family after spending the first 11 years of his NBA career in Portland had been a challenge for him. Now, he’ll still be paid in full by the Bucks while getting to become an unrestricted free agent, which will give him the ability to pick his own situation.

Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat are among the teams expected to have interest, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), though Jackson says the Oakland native will be “open to considering everything presented.”

As for Antetokounmpo, we’ll see whether he comes around on viewing the Lillard release as a necessary evil to land a player like Turner or whether the situation escalates from here. During his NBA TV spot, Haynes referred to it as “one more thing added to the equation” for Giannis as he considers whether he wants his future to be in Milwaukee or elsewhere.

Bucks, Gary Harris Agree To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2025 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

After making a pair of huge moves earlier on Tuesday morning, the Bucks have resumed filling out the edges of their roster. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), the team has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with free agent swingman Gary Harris.

While Charania doesn’t specify the financial details, it will likely be a minimum-salary contract for Harris. It will also include a second-year player option, Charania notes.

Harris, 30, saw his playing time decline in recent years in Orlando. He averaged just 14.8 minutes per game in 48 appearances in 2024/25, with averages of 3.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per night.

However, Harris has a long history of playing rotation minutes for both the Nuggets (2014-21) and Magic (2021-25) as a three-and-D wing. He has attempted 4.0 three-pointers per game over the course of his 11-year career and has knocked down 36.9% of them, including 38.8% since he arrived in Orlando as part of the Aaron Gordon trade in 2021. The veteran also earned praise from his Magic teammates this season for his play on defense, even in his limited role.

It has been a busy week so far for the Bucks. In addition to agreeing to terms to Harris, they’ve also struck deals to re-sign Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, and Gary Trent Jr. while unexpectedly landing a four-year commitment from Myles Turner and even more unexpectedly deciding to waive Damian Lillard and stretch his remaining salary to create short-term cap flexibility.