Offseason Check-In

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Washington Wizards

September 16th, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

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

Free agent signings

Marvin Bagley III: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Anthony Gill: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Will Riley (No. 21 pick), the No. 43 pick in the 2025 draft, either the Heat’s or Pacers’ 2031 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable), and the Jazz’s 2032 second-round pick from the Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Walter Clayton (No. 18 pick).
Acquired Dillon Jones and the Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick from the Thunder in exchange for Colby Jones.
Acquired CJ McCollum (from Pelicans), Kelly Olynyk (from Pelicans), Cam Whitmore (from Rockets), and the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick (from Pelicans) in a three-team trade in exchange for Jordan Poole (to Pelicans), Saddiq Bey (to Pelicans), the draft rights to Micah Peavy (No. 40 pick; to Pelicans), the Bulls’ 2026 second-round pick (to Rockets), and the Kings’ 2029 second-round pick (to Rockets).
- Note: The Wizards already controlled the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick if it landed between 31-50. Now they’ll receive it no matter where it ends up.
Acquired Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and either the Mavericks’, Thunder’s, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) from the Spurs in exchange for Kelly Olynyk.
- Note: Wesley was subsequently bought out by the Wizards.

Draft picks

1-6: Tre Johnson
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $37,439,130).
1-21: Will Riley
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $17,220,192).
2-43: Jamir Watkins
- Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Tristan Vukcevic
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Jamir Watkins
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Malcolm Brogdon (Knicks)
JT Thor (unsigned)

Other roster moves

Bought out Marcus Smart (gave up $6,800,001 of $21,586,856 salary).
Bought out Blake Wesley (gave up $1,378,870 of $4,726,328 salary).
Waived Richaun Holmes (partially guaranteed for $250,000).
Waived Jaylen Martin (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $156.1MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
Portion of bi-annual exception ($407,672) available.
Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $13,445,122).

The offseason so far

After winning 15 games in 2023/24 and 18 last season, the Wizards are in no hurry to take a significant step forward in ’25/26. In fact, a major improvement in the standings might work against the best interests of the organization in the long term, since Washington will owe its 2026 first-round pick to New York if it lands outside the top eight. Assuming that pick is inside the top eight, the Wizards will keep it and would no longer be required to give up a future first-rounder — instead, they’d send the Knicks their second-rounders in 2026 and 2027.

That first-round pick, which has landed in its protected range for each of the past three years, was originally sent to Houston as part of the John Wall/Russell Westbrook swap during the 2020 offseason before being rerouted to Oklahoma City and then to New York.

While that Wall/Westbrook trade may feel like ancient history, the traded pick involved in the deal continues to loom large over the franchise. It’s a big reason why the majority of the Wizards’ moves this summer weren’t about adding win-now help, but were instead about creating financial flexibility, taking fliers on former first-round picks, or continuing to accumulate future draft assets. Washington made four trades this offseason and each of them falls into one or more of those three categories.

For instance, the Wizards added three second-round picks to their stockpile by trading back from No. 18 to No. 21 on draft night. They picked up another second-rounder and took a shot on a recent first-round selection when they sent Colby Jones‘ non-guaranteed deal to Oklahoma City in exchange for 2024’s No. 26 overall pick Dillon Jones. And when they dealt Kelly Olynyk to San Antonio, they acquired a future second-round pick and reduced their 2025/26 team salary in the process.

The biggest trade of Washington’s summer was the one initially sending Olynyk to D.C. alongside veteran guard CJ McCollum. The agreement, which saw Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey head to New Orleans as the Wizards and Pelicans swapped second-round picks, looked a little curious on the surface, but made a ton of sense on the cap sheet — while Poole and Bey have two guaranteed years left on their contracts, McCollum and Olynyk (as well as the players whom the Wizards eventually acquired when they flipped Olynyk to the Spurs) are on expiring deals.

That means the Wizards are now in position to create a huge chunk of cap room during the 2026 offseason. Even if they retain all their players with team options and/or non-guaranteed salaries for the 2026/27 season, they’d still only have about $70MM in salary on their books entering next year’s draft. Of course, Washington doesn’t need that cap room to pursue free agents, but the team’s relative lack of multiyear financial commitments gives the front office a ton of flexibility to take on salary in trades, during either the coming season or the summer of 2026.

That trade with the Pelicans turned into a three-team deal when the Wizards folded in a separate agreement with the Rockets — Washington sent a pair of second-round picks to Houston in exchange for 2023 first-rounder Cam Whitmore.

It was the only deal the Wizards made this summer in which they gave up more draft assets than they got back, but the price tag to take a shot on a young scorer who has some untapped potential was relatively modest. Whitmore just turned 21 in July and has averaged 22.3 points per 36 minutes during his first two NBA seasons, but there was no place for him on an increasingly deep Rockets roster. We’ll see if he can find a more permanent home in D.C.

The Wizards added two more notable youngsters to their roster in this year’s draft, using the sixth overall pick on Texas guard Tre Johnson and the 21st pick on Illinois forward Will Riley, a pair of one-and-done college players.

Washington has now made six first-round picks in the past three years, including three top-seven selections, and doesn’t yet have a clear-cut franchise player to show for it. The franchise presumably hoped to address that issue this year with the second-best lottery odds in a class headlined by Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, but ended up with a worst-case outcome, leapfrogged by four teams and dropping to No. 6.

As disappointing a result as that was, there’s still optimism about Johnson’s ability to become a long-term fixture in the Wizards’ backcourt. He was excellent in two Summer League games, scoring 38 points on 14-of-24 shooting in 55 minutes of action, which was a promising first impression.

As the Wizards continue to lean into their youth movement, there are fewer veterans than ever left on the roster. The club brought back Marvin Bagley III and Anthony Gill on minimum-salary contracts, and it looks like McCollum and Khris Middleton will at least start the season in Washington. But Marcus Smart was bought out, Richaun Holmes was waived, Malcolm Brogdon departed in free agency, and it’s likely just a matter of time until McCollum and Middleton (both eligible for free agency in 2026) move on as well. The Wizards’ young core should get plenty of opportunities to sink or swim in 2025/26.

Up next

The Wizards have a minor roster crunch to address for the regular season, with 15 players on guaranteed contracts and Justin Champagnie on a non-guaranteed deal. Champagnie was a pretty effective role player last season and doesn’t deserve to be the odd man out, so Washington will likely have to trade or release someone with a guaranteed salary, which shouldn’t be an issue for a team operating way below the luxury tax line.

Malaki Branham, acquired from the Spurs in the Olynyk deal, is one candidate to be waived — he averaged a career-low 9.1 minutes per game in his third NBA season in 2024/25.

It’s also not clear if Jones, who was acquired in that aforementioned trade with the Thunder, is someone Washington actually likes or if the front office just made the deal for the second-round pick that was attached to him. He looks like another potential release candidate.

The Wizards have one open two-way slot alongside second-round pick Jamir Watkins and big man Tristan Vukcevic. After undrafted rookie Kadary Richmond agreed to sign with Washington in June, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino published a social media post congratulating Richmond for his “two-way” deal, but no reporters ever confirmed that the guard was getting a two-way contract and he has yet to officially sign at all, so Pitino may have misspoke. It’s possible Richmond will be one of a few players who have a chance to compete for that two-way slot in training camp.

Setting the 15-man standard roster and filling the final two-way opening will be the main items on the Wizards’ to-do list this fall, since there are no real extension candidates on the roster — Branham is the only player eligible for a rookie scale extension, and extension-eligible veterans like McCollum and Middleton aren’t legitimate candidates for new deals.

Still, the Wizards are worth keeping an eye on as a trade facilitator. The preseason doesn’t typically feature a ton of trade activity, but there are usually at least a couple deals made, and the Wizards’ cap situation makes them a logical partner for teams looking to shed a contract or two. Washington is operating more than $30MM below the luxury tax line and still has the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception and a pair of mid-sized trade exceptions at its disposal to take on salary.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Minnesota Timberwolves

September 15th, 2025 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Naz Reid: Five years, $125,000,000. Fifth-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Julius Randle: Three years, $100,000,000. Third-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Joe Ingles: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Bones Hyland: Exact details TBD.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick; from Lakers), either the Warriors’ or Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Suns), either the Suns’ or Rockets’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Suns/Rockets), and cash ($3.25MM; from Lakers) in a seven-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 pick; to Suns).
Acquired the Cavaliers’ 2027 second-round pick and cash ($1.5MM) from the Hawks in exchange for Nickeil Alexander-Walker (sign-and-trade).

Draft picks

1-17: Joan Beringer
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $20,331,643).
2-45: Rocco Zikarsky
- Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Enrique Freeman
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Rocco Zikarsky
- Two years, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season); second year partially guaranteed for maximum two-way protection amount (will increase to 50% at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Hawks)
Jesse Edwards (Melbourne United)
Luka Garza (Celtics)
Bones Hyland (unsigned)
Josh Minott (Celtics)
Tristen Newton (unsigned)

Other roster moves

Re-signed Jesse Edwards to a two-way contract ($85,300 partial guarantee), then waived him.

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $200.3MM in salary.
No hard cap.
Full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,685,000) available.
One traded player exception available ($7,580,900); one traded player exception frozen ($4,686,880).

The offseason so far

Given that the Timberwolves have only advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs three times in franchise history, it’s not an exaggeration to call the last two seasons – which saw them appear in back-to-back Western Conference Finals – the most successful stretch in team history. However, entering the 2025 offseason, financial concerns threatened to put a dent in a roster that had won four postseason series in the past two years.

Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, and their “deep-pocketed” ownership group finally assumed majority control of the Timberwolves in June, while defensive anchor Rudy Gobert took a pay cut of nearly $9MM on a new deal that began in 2025/26. But after operating above the second tax apron in ’24/25, the Wolves weren’t eager to surpass that threshold for a second consecutive year. That meant the club likely wouldn’t be able to re-sign all three of its top free agents, Naz Reid, Julius Randle, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

The Wolves chose to prioritize Reid and Randle, reaching a five-year, $125MM agreement with the former and a three-year, $100MM deal with the latter. Since both Reid and Randle are power forwards, there was an argument for letting one of them walk, but Minnesota was a much better team when both players were available, since it allowed Reid – the Sixth Man of the Year in 2023/24 – to go to work against second units and created more frontcourt optionality. The Wolves had a 44-25 record in games Randle played, compared to a 5-8 mark when he was sidelined.

Reid’s $125MM contract, which is fully guaranteed with a fifth-year player option, was actually the most lucrative deal signed by any free agent this summer. That may seem like an aggressive investment in a player who doesn’t project to be a starter, but the 26-year-old has been one of the league’s most effective reserves in recent years and would be fully capable of stepping into a starting role in the event that Randle is traded at some point in the next couple seasons.

Reid’s new contract will also cover his prime years and isn’t an anomaly when compared to deals around the league. DeMar DeRozan, Miles Bridges, Tobias Harris, John Collins, RJ Barrett, Jerami Grant, and Khris Middleton are among the forwards who will earn between $3-12MM more than Reid in 2025/26.

Randle, meanwhile, turned down a $30.9MM player option in favor of a multiyear deal that starts at the same price. The three-time All-Star has taken some flak for his inconsistent three-point shot and mediocre defense, but he’s a talented, scorer, play-maker, and rebounder who had an excellent postseason (21.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 4.9 APG on .502/.385/.880 shooting), and he should be more comfortable in his second year in Minnesota following his first full offseason as a Timberwolf. He had little time to adjust to new his home last fall when the Knicks traded him to the Wolves at the start of training camp.

With Reid and Randle back in the fold, the Wolves didn’t have enough room below the second apron for Alexander-Walker, who received a four-year, $60MM+ contract from the Hawks.

Minnesota got a future second-round pick and cash as part of that sign-and-trade transaction, but lacked the resources to acquire a direct replacement for Alexander-Walker, a three-and-D guard, in free agency or on the trade market. The Wolves will be betting on increased contributions from a trio of in-house backcourt youngsters, with Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark each likely getting the opportunity to compete for an increased role in 2025/26.

Although the Wolves also used a first-round pick on Joan Beringer and re-signed Joe Ingles to another minimum-salary contract, Beringer is an 18-year-old who will be playing stateside for the first time and Ingles shifted into the “locker room leader” phase of his career last season by logging 114 total minutes in 19 outings. It’s probably not realistic to expect major contributions from either player this season.

Up next

The Timberwolves entered the day on Monday with just 13 players on standard contracts and a team salary roughly $5.86MM below the second tax apron. Bones Hyland has since signed a contract – presumably worth the minimum – that could line him up to be Minnesota’s 14th man.

It’s possible Hyland will simply get that 14th roster spot and the Timberwolves will carry a 14-man standard roster into the regular season, but it’s not quite that simple.

For one, we don’t know yet how much (if any) of Hyland’s salary is guaranteed. Is he being handed a roster spot or will he have to compete for one? If it’s the latter, he could be the first of a handful of veteran free agents to reach deals with the Wolves, similar to how the Knicks agreed to terms with Landry Shamet, Garrison Mathews, and Malcolm Brogdon in a 24-hour span last week.

Minnesota also has enough wiggle room below the second apron to add a 15th man on a minimum deal or even using a modest portion of the taxpayer mid-level exception. But the Wolves are far enough into the tax that they’d be paying a penalty of $3.50 per dollar on that 15th man’s salary, so it would have to be someone they really like.

For what it’s worth, I’ve long thought that it would be in the Wolves’ best interest to add another veteran point guard to provide depth behind Mike Conley, who will be entering his age-38 season. Donte DiVincenzo and Hyland aren’t really true point guards, and it’s unclear if Dillingham will be ready to take on that role in his second NBA season. Brogdon would’ve been a nice fit, but there are other options still out there, including Cameron Payne and another one of Connelly’s former Nuggets, Monte Morris.

The Wolves have an open two-way slot available alongside Enrique Freeman and second-round pick Rocco Zikarsky, but the expectation is that Tristen Newton will fill it. The 2024 second-rounder reportedly agreed a month-and-a-half ago to sign his two-way qualifying offer, but that move still hasn’t been officially confirmed by either the team or the league. Assuming it gets done as expected, Minnesota’s two-way players should be set for the season.

As for potential extension-eligible players, most of the Wolves’ core players are already on longer-term deals. The only players eligible for extensions this fall are DiVincenzo and Leonard Miller.

A DiVincenzo extension isn’t out of the question, but he has two guaranteed years left on his current contract, so I doubt the Wolves will be in a hurry to get something done with him at this point unless he’s willing to give them a pretty team-friendly rate.

Miller, meanwhile, has barely seen the floor in his first two NBA seasons, playing just 84 total minutes in 30 appearances. At this point, extending his current deal is probably less of a priority than simply making sure he shows enough to finish out that expiring contract without being waived.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Miami Heat

September 14th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Davion Mitchell: Two years, $24,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Dru Smith: Three years, $7,898,151. Second year non-guaranteed. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
Dain Dainja: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trevor Keels: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Gabe Madsen: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Ethan Thompson: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Jahmir Young: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Simone Fontecchio from the Pistons in exchange for Duncan Robinson (sign-and-trade).
Acquired Norman Powell (from Clippers) in a three-team trade in exchange for Kyle Anderson (to Jazz) and Kevin Love (to Jazz).
Acquired the Nets’ 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Nets in exchange for Haywood Highsmith and the Heat’s 2032 second-round pick.

Draft picks

1-20: Kasparas Jakucionis
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $17,730,606).

Two-way signings

Myron Gardner
- Two years, $85,300 partial guarantee; second year non-guaranteed.
Vladislav Goldin
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Alec Burks (unsigned)
Josh Christopher (unsigned)
Duncan Robinson (Pistons)
Isaiah Stevens (Kings)

Other roster moves

Exercised team option on Keshad Johnson ($1,955,377).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $186.1MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
Five traded player exceptions available (largest worth $16,834,692).

The offseason so far

It was a forgettable season in 2024/25 for the Heat, who engaged in a lengthy standoff with disgruntled star Jimmy Butler that culminated in a deadline trade sending him to Golden State, then wrapped up the year with an underwhelming 12-21 post-deadline performance that dropped the team to the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The club showed some signs of life in the play-in tournament by becoming the first No. 10 seed to win consecutive play-in games to make the playoffs, but once they got there, the Heat were on the wrong end of a historic beat-down by the top-seeded Cavaliers, who outscored Miami by a whopping 122 points in a four-game sweep.

As ugly as both the second half of the season and that first-round playoff series were, there were at least a couple positive takeaways that stemmed from the Heat’s trade deadline activity. The most obvious one was the play of Davion Mitchell, who was sent from Toronto to Miami as part of the five-team Butler blockbuster.

A defensive specialist who struggled offensively for most of his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons, Mitchell emerged as a starter and averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game with a .504/.447/.702 shooting line in 30 regular season games for the Heat. He was even better in the postseason, making 59.3% of his field goal attempts and 52.0% of his three-pointers with averages of 15.2 PPG and 6.5 APG in six play-in and playoff outings.

Mitchell’s excellent second half earned him a fully guaranteed two-year, $24MM commitment from the Heat. It was easily the most lucrative contract Miami handed out this offseason – the team’s other free agent signings will all earn the minimum in 2025/26 – and it should be a pretty safe investment as long as the offensive strides made last season by the former lottery pick weren’t a one-off.

At $12MM per year, Mitchell doesn’t necessarily need to replicate those strong second-half numbers in order to return positive value — as long as he produces enough to make opposing teams take him seriously as an offensive threat, his play on defense will keep him in the rotation on a consistent basis.

The other notable offseason move the Heat made as a result of their Butler trade was using the No. 20 overall pick in the draft on Kasparas Jakucionis. Having won both of their play-in games, the Heat were forced to sent their own lottery-protected pick (No. 15 overall) to Oklahoma City, but they received the Warriors’ first-rounder as part of the return for Butler, then used it to draft a one-and-done point guard out of Illinois.

Jakucionis didn’t get off to a great start at the California Classic Summer League, where he made just 1-of-15 field goals and had as many turnovers and personal fouls as points (12) in three games. But he was better in Las Vegas, and – as Jared McCain can attest – there’s certainly no guarantee a poor Summer League showing will carry over to the regular season. The Heat are optimistic about the long-term potential of Jakucionis within their developmental system.

Outside of the Mitchell signing and the Jakucionis pick, all of the Heat’s major offseason moves occurred on the trade market, including a sign-and-trade sending Duncan Robinson to Detroit in exchange for Simone Fontecchio and a three-team deal that saw Norman Powell land in Miami in exchange for Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love.

The Robinson transaction was an interesting one. It came as a bit of a surprise in June when the veteran sharpshooter opted out of $19.9MM contract that would have been partially guaranteed for $9.9MM. After all, if he had opted in, Robinson would have been guaranteed at least $9.9MM, with the opportunity to either reach the free agent market anyway (if Miami had waived him) or to make another $10MM (if Miami had kept him).

But the decision to opt out seemingly came with an understanding that the Heat would help Robinson get to a preferred destination. It ended up working out for both sides — Robinson got roughly $18.8MM in guaranteed money on his deal with the Pistons, right around what he would’ve gotten on his full Heat deal, while Miami acquired Fontecchio, whose $8.3MM cap hit will fit into the team’s budget much better than Robinson’s $19.9MM would have.

With the help of savings created by swapping out Robinson for Fontecchio, the Heat were able to take in Powell and his $20.5MM expiring deal in exchange for Anderson and Love, who will earn a combined $13.4MM in 2025/26. While Anderson is a solid role player and Love is a respected locker-room leader, neither player is as valuable as Powell, who is coming off a career year in which he scored 21.8 points per game and made 41.8% of his three-point tries.

The Heat were still operating below the first apron after their trade for Powell, but it left them about $1.6MM above the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract. To address the issue, they attached a 2032 second-round pick to Haywood Highsmith in a trade to Brooklyn, then replaced him by re-signing Dru Smith to a standard multiyear contract that includes one guaranteed season.

Highsmith is in the process of recovering from knee surgery and wasn’t an integral part of the Heat’s roster, but he’s a pretty dependable rotation player who could easily rebuild positive value by the trade deadline if he plays well in Brooklyn. Still, getting out of the tax was an important consideration for a Heat team that had been a taxpayer for the past two seasons and was wary of facing repeater penalties in future seasons.

Up next

The Heat don’t have enough room to add a 15th man to their standard roster without surpassing the luxury tax line. However, the tax line isn’t a hard cap — the team could go into the tax if it wants to, then make an effort to duck below it again later in the season.

The other option for the Heat if they want to bring in one more free agent would be to waive Terry Rozier, whose $26.6MM salary is only partially guaranteed for $24.9MM. Waiving Rozier and signing a newcomer on a minimum-salary deal would keep Miami out of tax territory, though the team still wouldn’t have enough room to add a 15th man while surpassing that threshold. Taking that route would also mean giving up a big expiring contract that could be used in a mid-season trade.

If the Heat do decide to bring in one more player for their regular season roster, it will likely be someone in the frontcourt, since the team is a little thin in the middle — especially if Bam Adebayo resists spending much time at the five. Precious Achiuwa is among the free agents who have been linked to the Heat, while former Miami center Thomas Bryant also remains unsigned for now.

The Heat have one two-way contract slot open alongside Vladislav Goldin and Myron Gardner, and it sounds like that spot will be up for grabs in training camp. Trevor Keels, Jahmir Young, Ethan Thompson, Gabe Madsen, and Dain Dainja are all on Exhibit 10 contracts that can be converted into two-way deals, so they all could be involved in that competition.

The front office will have a major decision to make next month on Tyler Herro, who becomes extension-eligible as of October 1. Owed $64MM over the next two seasons, Herro could sign for as much as $149.7MM over three seasons (beginning in 2027/28). He certainly made a case for a lucrative new deal with his performance last season — he set career highs in points (23.9) and assists (5.5) per game, as well as field goal percentage (47.2%), and made an All-Star team for the first time.

Still, Herro isn’t really a true point guard, has repeatedly battled injuries, and is hardly a lock-down defender. The Heat will be wary of making a massive investment in the 25-year-old, especially since he still has two guaranteed years left on his current contract and doesn’t necessarily have to be extended quite this early. If the two sides don’t agree to terms before the coming season, they could revisit talks next summer.

The Heat have no shortage of additional extension candidates, with Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Nikola Jovic also eligible to sign new contracts. Of the three, only Jovic has a preseason deadline, meaning those negotiations may be prioritized. But Jovic’s role and availability have been inconsistent through three NBA seasons, so unless Miami can get a pretty team-friendly rate (ie. no more than $10-12MM per year), I’d be somewhat surprised if the two sides work something out this fall.

Powell and Wiggins, meanwhile, will remain extension-eligible into the season, and it sounds like the Heat will wait on Powell to get a better sense of his fit on the roster. It might make sense to take the same path with Wiggins, whose first couple months with the Heat last season were frequently interrupted by health issues, which prevented him really getting into a rhythm with his new team.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Houston Rockets

September 12th, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Dorian Finney-Smith: Four years, $52,705,000. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year player option (non-guaranteed if exercised). Trade kicker (3.232%). Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Fred VanVleet: Two years, $50,000,000. Second-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
Clint Capela: Three years, $21,105,000. Trade kicker (5%). Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Hawks.
Jeff Green: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
Aaron Holiday: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Josh Okogie: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Jae’Sean Tate: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
Cameron Matthews: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Mojave King (from Pelicans), the Bulls’ 2026 second-round pick (from Wizards) and the Kings’ 2029 second-round pick (from Wizards) in a three-team trade in exchange for Cam Whitmore (to Wizards).
Acquired Kevin Durant (from Suns) and Clint Capela (sign-and-trade; from Hawks) in a seven-team trade in exchange for Jalen Green (to Suns), Dillon Brooks (to Suns), David Roddy (two-way; to Hawks), the draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; to Suns), the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; to Warriors), either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; to Suns), either the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick or the most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks (whichever is least favorable; to Nets), the Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick; to Nets), the right to swap 2031 second-round picks (56-60 protected; to Hawks), and cash ($85,300; to Hawks).

Draft picks

None

Two-way signings

Isaiah Crawford
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
JD Davison
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Kevon Harris
- One year, $25,000 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

N’Faly Dante (Hawks)
Jack McVeigh (Cairns Taipans)

Other roster moves

Signed Jabari Smith Jr. to a five-year, $122,000,000 rookie scale contract extension that begins in 2026/27.
Signed Steven Adams to a three-year, $39,000,000 veteran contract extension that begins in 2025/26.
Waived Jock Landale (non-guaranteed contract).
Waived Jeenathan Williams (non-guaranteed contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $194.7MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Portion of non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($1,404,000) available.
One traded player exception available ($3,539,760).

The offseason so far

While some blockbuster NBA trades come out of nowhere, there are also plenty that finally get done after weeks – or even months – of rumors and speculation linking a player to a specific team. Anthony Davis being traded to the Lakers falls into the latter category; the deal that eventually sent Davis out of Los Angeles obviously falls into the former group.

The trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to Houston is another example of one of those long-running rumors that eventually came to fruition. When word broke that Durant was being dealt to Houston, it didn’t come as a shock like February’s Davis/Luka Doncic mega-deal did, because it just made so much sense.

Durant, who was said to be caught off-guard when the Suns discussed him in trade talks at the deadline, was long expected to seek an offseason trade, while the Rockets, armed with the young players and draft picks necessary to get a deal done, had just shown in their postseason loss to Golden State that they badly needed an infusion of offensive firepower.

Durant, even as he enters his age-37 season, is capable of providing just that, having continued to produce at an All-NBA level last season (26.6 points per game on .527/.430/.839 shooting). While he’s no longer the defensive force he was during his prime years, the Rockets will be happy if the 15-time All-Star continues to put up his typical scoring numbers and gives head coach Ime Udoka a reliable bucket-getter who can create his own shot in clutch situations.

The Durant deal between the Suns and Rockets eventually turned into a seven-team monstrosity that folded several separate trade agreements into a single transaction, but there were essentially three crucial outgoing pieces from Houston’s perspective in the Durant portion of the trade: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and this year’s No. 10 overall pick.

Green’s three-year extension, which begins this year, was practically designed to make him a trade chip. And when he struggled in his first playoff series, scoring no more than 12 points in six of seven games, it sealed his fate. Green will be given an opportunity in Phoenix to make another leap, but the Rockets – eager to take a step toward title contention right now – couldn’t afford to wait to see whether or not that would happen.

Giving up this year’s No. 10 pick also wasn’t a major sacrifice for the Rockets, who had the No. 3 pick a year earlier and ended up barely utilizing the player they selected with it (Reed Sheppard). If Houston had kept its 2025 first-rounder, it would’ve been a tall order for the team’s latest lottery selection to crack the rotation anytime soon.

Of those outgoing pieces, Brooks actually might be the one the Rockets miss the most in the short term. A locker-room leader and a tenacious defender, the forward played an important role in Houston, and the club is unlikely to ask Durant to take on the same defensive assignments that Brooks handled. As a result, going out in free agency and landing another defensive-minded wing capable of guarding high-level perimeter scorers was a priority for the front office.

That search eventually landed with a four-year, $52.7MM commitment to Dorian Finney-Smith that is more team-friendly than it initially looked. Only the first two years of Finney-Smith’s new contract are guaranteed, giving Houston some flexibility to get out of the deal in a year or two if things don’t work out. Still, based on how Finney-Smith helped transform the Lakers’ defense last winter after a mid-season trade sent him from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, there’s no reason to think the wing won’t be an asset for the Rockets.

Houston also used the minimum salary exception to add Josh Okogie, another versatile wing who will give the team energy and defense off the bench.

Having brought back several players from last season’s roster on more team-friendly deals – Fred VanVleet took a pay cut to $25MM, while Aaron Holiday and Jae’Sean Tate re-signed for the minimum – the Rockets still had a little financial flexibility below a first-apron hard cap after agreeing to trade for Durant and striking a deal with Finney-Smith.

Interestingly, Houston used that remaining flexibility below the first apron to acquire Clint Capela via sign-and-trade, incorporating that agreement with Atlanta into the super-sized Durant deal so as not to send out any additional salary.

It was a curious move for a team that already has Alperen Sengun and newly extended backup center Steven Adams in the middle, but after having success with lineups that featured both Sengun and Adams down the stretch last season, the team seems prepared to continue leaning into those bigger looks going forward. Having Capela in the mix as well will give the Rockets more reliable depth up front and more flexibility to mix and match those two-big units.

The Rockets’ other two major transactions of the summer featured first-round picks from 2022 and 2023: the team doubled down on its investment in 2022’s No. 3 overall pick, Jabari Smith Jr., by signing him to a five-year, $122MM extension, but decided to move on from 2023 first-rounder Cam Whitmore, trading him to Washington for a pair of second-round picks.

Whitmore showed off some intriguing scoring upside during his first two NBA seasons, but Smith’s all-around game – including his stout defense – is a better fit for Houston’s roster and for Udoka’s philosophy. Smith’s numbers dipped a little in an injury-shortened 2024/25 season, but there’s reason to believe his game still has more room to grow — he just turned 22 years old in May.

Up next

The Rockets have an opening on their projected 15-man roster, but they don’t have enough room below their hard cap to actually sign a 15th man until January, so their standard roster looks set. Their three two-way contract slots have also been filled, which means their preseason signings and cuts figure to be about securing G League rights and lining up bonuses for Rio Grande Valley Vipers players.

Still, it won’t be a quiet October in Houston. The team has two big contract decisions to make, as both Durant (veteran) and Tari Eason (rookie scale) are eligible to sign extensions.

Since Durant is on an expiring contract, he’ll remain extension-eligible all season long, so there’s not necessarily an urgency to get something done with him before opening night, but it’s frankly a little surprising that the two sides don’t already have an agreement in place. When Durant was on the trade block, Houston was said to be one of the teams he’d be willing to sign an extension with, but the team has seemingly been in no rush to finalize a new contract.

Reports in August indicated that the two sides are still expected to work something out, but that the Rockets may be reluctant to give Durant a maximum-salary deal (roughly $119MM over two years). That would explain the delay and is an understandable position to take, given that a two-year extension would cover KD’s age-38 and -39 seasons.

I’d still expect Houston to put a lucrative offer on the table, but it will be interesting to see whether the team will be willing to guarantee more than one additional season beyond 2025/26. For the sake of comparison, when the Clippers re-signed James Harden in July, they gave him one guaranteed year (for age 36), with a partially guaranteed player option ($13.3MM of $42.3MM) on the second year.

Negotiations with Eason won’t be simple either, especially since the two sides face an October 20 deadline. If no deal is reached by that point, the fourth-year forward will head to restricted free agency in 2026.

Having lost Brooks, the Rockets will probably be relying on Eason to step up and play an increased role in 2025/26, and the 24-year-old has shown real promise as a three-and-D wing. But Houston’s roster is getting increasingly expensive and the team will also have to make a substantial investment in Amen Thompson when he becomes extension-eligible next summer.

The front office will have to be careful about how much it’s prepared to commit to Eason, a solid contributor with untapped potential who still probably isn’t one of the club’s five or six most important players.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Cleveland Cavaliers

September 10th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Sam Merrill: Four years, $38,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Larry Nance Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Lonzo Ball from the Bulls in exchange for Isaac Okoro.

Draft picks

2-49: Tyrese Proctor
- Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year partially guaranteed ($500K). Fourth-year team option.
2-58: Saliou Niang
- Will play overseas.

Two-way signings

Luke Travers
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Emoni Bates (unsigned)
Javonte Green (Pistons)
Ty Jerome (Grizzlies)
Chuma Okeke (Real Madrid)
Tristan Thompson (unsigned)

Other roster moves

None

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $226.3MM in salary.
No hard cap.
One traded player exception frozen ($8,500,000).
One traded player exception available ($1,000,000).

The offseason so far

When the Cavaliers fell to Indiana in the second round of the playoffs this spring, it was a gut punch for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it was an incredibly disappointing way to end what had been one of the best years in team history up until that point. Only the 2008/09 Cavs – propelled by an MVP season from an in-his-prime LeBron James – racked up more regular season victories than the 64 last season’s club won.

It was also a discouraging outcome because it happened right before the Cavs’ roster was set to get significantly more expensive. Cleveland managed to duck below the luxury tax line at February’s deadline, but even without re-signing any key free agents, the team’s salary for 2025/26 was set to enter second-apron territory.

After the Suns, Celtics, and Timberwolves got a first-hand look last season at the impact of operating in the second tax apron, those teams were all in the process of moving below that threshold this summer. Would the Cavs really be willing to go deeper into the second apron in order to re-sign guys who played key roles for the 2024/25 squad, such as Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill?

As it turns out, the answer was yes — to a point. The Cavs didn’t hesitate to negotiate a new multiyear deal with Merrill, who established himself as one of the club’s best shooters and whose defense has improved significantly since he entered the league. The two sides reached an agreement on a four-year, $38MM contract two days before the league-wide free agent period opened, keeping Merrill off the market.

While that contract is fully guaranteed, it’s only worth about 5.5% of the cap in year one and will remain in that neighborhood over the next four years. It’s a fair deal for a rotation player who figures to average 20-plus minutes per game and who won’t be played off the floor in the postseason — as a point of comparison, another Eastern Conference wing who plays a similar role, Boston’s Sam Hauser, will be paid $45MM over the same four-year period.

Although Cleveland made Merrill a priority, the front office didn’t do the same for Jerome, whose breakout year earned him a third-place finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

As good as Jerome was, he was exposed defensively in the playoffs, and the Cavs likely didn’t feel the need to invest heavily in another offense-first guard while already paying big bucks to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland — especially since doing so would have cost them exponentially more in tax penalties. After agreeing to a three-year, $27.7MM deal with the Grizzlies, Jerome suggested in a social media post that he was “never presented with the option of returning” to Cleveland.

Like the decision to pass on Jerome, the other Cavaliers’ moves were made with financial considerations in mind. That includes their straight-up trade of Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball. Okoro ($11MM) will only earn slightly more in 2025/26 than Ball ($10MM), but Okoro’s contract is guaranteed through the 2026/27 season, while the Cavs will hold a team option for Ball in ’26/27, giving them some extra financial flexibility.

Of course, swapping a wing for a point guard also made sense from a roster construction standpoint after having re-signed Merrill and not Jerome.

Although Ball returned last season from a two-and-a-half-year injury absence related to recurring knee problems, he still wasn’t exactly a paragon of health, having appeared in just 35 games. If he can bump that number to at least 50-60 appearances in 2025/26, it would be a major boon for the Cavs, since Ball has a knack for making his team better even when his box-score numbers don’t look all that impressive.

The Cavs used one of their second-round picks to select former Duke guard Tyrese Proctor and sign him to a multiyear contract that starts at the rookie minimum. The gap between cap hits for a rookie minimum salary ($1,272,870) and a veteran minimum salary ($2,296,274) isn’t massive, but when a team is as deep into luxury tax territory as Cleveland is, the savings represent far more than that modest difference suggests.

Proctor spent three years with the Blue Devils and should be more NBA-ready than a one-and-done prospect, but he’s still just 21 years old and may not be prepared to contribute right away. That would probably be OK with the Cavs, who figure to focus on developing Proctor’s game in the hopes that he’ll be ready to take on a more regular rotation role in a year or two.

Finally, the Cavs added some much-needed frontcourt depth by reuniting with Larry Nance Jr. on a minimum-salary agreement. Nance, who was in Cleveland for three-and-a-half seasons from 2018-21, averaged 27.6 minutes per game during his first stint with the organization. This time around, he’ll likely be asked to play a more modest role behind big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, but – as long as he’s healthy – he’ll be a solid insurance option up front in the event of an injury to either of those players.

Up next

Although injuries to Garland (toe) and Max Strus (foot) are expected to sideline them for the start of the regular season, the Cavs seem unlikely to carry a full 15-man roster due to luxury tax concerns. However, they’ll need to get to at least 14 players on standard contracts, which will require adding one more player at some point in the next month or two.

Despite being limited to minimum-salary offers for veteran free agents, the Cavs have no shortage of options for that 14th spot. If they want to add one more ball-handling guard for depth purposes due to health concerns about Garland and/or Ball, a player like Malcolm Brogdon or Cameron Payne would make sense.

With Strus expected to miss an extended period, one more wing would be a logical choice too — someone like Garrison Mathews, Landry Shamet, or Gary Payton II could fit that bill. Cleveland has also been linked to Malik Beasley, though he remains under investigation by the NBA, and it’s unclear if one of the league’s best sharpshooters will have to settle for the veteran’s minimum.

The Cavs could even target one more big man to further fortify their frontcourt behind Allen and Mobley, given that Nance is coming off a season-ending knee issue. Precious Achiuwa and Thomas Bryant are among the vets still out there.

Whichever direction they go, I’d like to see the Cavs use that spot on a player who can actually contribute rather than a locker-room leader who won’t see any action — with Garland and Strus already recovering from major injuries, Cleveland isn’t in position to throw away a valuable opportunity to add more playable depth.

The Cavaliers also have one open two-way slot to fill alongside Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Luke Travers. The path they take with their standard roster spot could dictate what position they want to address with that final two-way opening.

Finally, it’s worth noting that several key Cleveland players – Garland, Strus De’Andre Hunter, and Dean Wade – will be eligible for extensions during the preseason. However, Garland, Strus, and Hunter all have multiple guaranteed years left on their current contracts and Wade has been mentioned as a potential trade candidate in the event that the Cavs want to try to reduce their tax bill.

I’d be a little surprised if any of those four players signs an extension before the regular season begins, given Cleveland’s cap situation. The team, which is carrying the NBA’s most expensive roster in 2025/26, probably isn’t eager to lock in more long-term money earlier than it needs to.

Hoops Rumors’ 2025 Offseason Check-In Series

September 7th, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

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

All of our Offseason Check-In articles are linked below, sorted by conference and division.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Boston Celtics (coming soon)
Brooklyn Nets (coming soon)
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers (coming soon)
Toronto Raptors

Central

Chicago Bulls (coming soon)
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks (coming soon)

Southeast

Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets (coming soon)
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards

Western Conference

Northwest

Pacific

Golden State Warriors (coming soon)
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns (coming soon)
Sacramento Kings (coming soon)

Southwest

Dallas Mavericks (coming soon)
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies (coming soon)
New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Los Angeles Lakers

September 7th, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Deandre Ayton: Two years, $16,208,000. Second-year player option. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Jake LaRavia: Two years, $12,000,000. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Marcus Smart: Two years, $10,524,700. Second-year player option. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Jaxson Hayes: One year, $3,449,323. Re-signed using Non-Bird rights. Waived right to veto trade.
RJ Davis: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Eric Dixon: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Arthur Kaluma: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Kylor Kelley: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Augustas Marciulionis: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick) from the Bulls in exchange for the draft rights to Lachlan Olbrich (No. 55 pick) in the 2025 draft and cash ($2.5MM).
Acquired the draft rights to Adou Thiero (No. 36 pick; from Nets) in a seven-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick; to Timberwolves) and cash ($3.25MM; to Timberwolves).

Draft picks

2-36: Adou Thiero
- Signed to three-year, $5,949,688 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third-year team option.

Two-way signings

Christian Koloko
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Chris Manon
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Dorian Finney-Smith (Rockets)
Alex Len (unsigned)
Markieff Morris (unsigned)

Other roster moves

Signed Luka Doncic to a three-year, maximum-salary veteran contract extension that begins in 2026/27. Projected value of $160,838,784. Includes third-year player option.
Waived Jordan Goodwin (non-guaranteed contract).
Waived Shake Milton (non-guaranteed contract).
Waived Trey Jemison (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $194.8MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $1,891,857).

The offseason so far

The Lakers’ offseason began in somewhat dramatic fashion when agent Rich Paul announced on June 29 that LeBron James was picking up his player option for 2025/26. James was one of 10 players who exercised a player option in June, but two factors made his case unique. First, the ’25/26 season will be the first time in his career that LeBron is on an expiring contract; and second, Paul was the only agent who put out a lengthy statement accompanying his client’s opt-in decision.

Within that statement, Paul said that LeBron “knows the Lakers are building for the future,” wants to contend for a title, and understands “the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future.”

“We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career,” Paul’s statement concluded. “He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

Even for a player like James, whose two-plus decades in the NBA have included countless cryptic – some might say passive-aggressive – interview responses, social media posts, and media leaks, this one was a pretty rich text. Was LeBron suggesting he wanted a trade? Expressing displeasure that he didn’t work out a multiyear deal with the Lakers? Putting pressure on the team to go all-in in 2025/26? Hinting that he plans to retire next year?

We haven’t gotten a definitive answer to those questions over the past two months, but Paul’s statement also didn’t lead to any sort of summer fireworks involving the Lakers and James. We know based on their stunning Luka Doncic deal in February that the Lakers are capable of keeping a blockbuster trade under wraps, but there has been no indication that we’re headed in that direction with James, at least not in 2025. All indications are that the 40-year-old will open the season in Los Angeles and look to win a title alongside Doncic.

Still, it’s clear that a passing of the torch is in process in Los Angeles. While the organization has revolved around James since 2018, the spotlight has shifted to Doncic, who was also at the center of some early offseason speculation. As of August 2, Doncic’s extend-and-trade restrictions would lift and he’d be eligible to sign a maximum-salary extension with the Lakers. Would he take advantage of that opportunity and commit to the team long-term?

As August 2 approached, it became clear that there would be no drama on that front either. Not only did Doncic sign a maximum-salary extension with the Lakers, but he did so on the first day he was eligible, forgoing potential 2026 free agency and signaling that he’s all-in on L.A.

With Doncic extended and things relatively quiet on the LeBron front following that June statement, the Lakers’ focus this offseason was primarily on upgrading the roster around their two stars. The front office, which backed out of a trade for center Mark Williams at February’s deadline due to concerns about his physical, didn’t return to the trade market to make those upgrades, instead using a series of cap exceptions in free agency to improve the team’s depth.

One of four teams to use its entire non-taxpayer mid-level exception this offseason, the Lakers split their MLE between forward Jake LaRavia and center Deandre Ayton.

Ayton, a former No. 1 overall pick, is the more familiar name of the two and fills a greater hole for the Lakers, whose lack of a reliable big man was an Achilles heel in their first-round playoff loss to Minnesota in the spring. But LaRavia, an underrated, defensive-minded forward who is still just 23 years old – and whose shooting percentages significantly improved in his third NBA season – shouldn’t be overlooked.

LaRavia could play an important role for L.A., especially since the team lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency to Houston. Finney-Smith’s exit was a little surprising, given that he thrived following his mid-season trade to the Lakers and only got two fully guaranteed years on his deal with the Rockets. The Lakers could’ve matched that offer even while prioritizing 2027 cap flexibility, but they’re betting on LaRavia and a healthy Jarred Vanderbilt providing the wing defense they sacrificed with Finney-Smith’s departure.

The Lakers also prioritized defense with their bi-annual exception, using it to add former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. The veteran guard has battled injuries over the past couple seasons, but if he’s back to full health, Smart would be a bargain on his $5.1MM cap hit this season — even if he’s not quite the player he was in his prime years.

Finally, in need of more depth at center beyond Ayton, the Lakers used Jaxson Hayes‘ Non-Bird rights to give him a raise to 20% above his minimum salary. Hayes was overextended as the club’s starting center in the second half of last season, but as a backup on a fairly team-friendly deal, he’s certainly capable of returning positive value.

Up next

Obviously, if anything is going to happen before next summer with James, it will be the most pressing item on the Lakers’ agenda. But if we assume that the four-time MVP at least plays out his record-setting 23rd NBA season in Los Angeles, there’s not much left on the club’s offseason to-do list.

While the Lakers only have 14 players on standard guaranteed contracts, they don’t currently have a path to adding a 15th man, since they’re only operating $1.1MM away from their first-apron hard cap. If they don’t shed salary by making a trade or buying out a player, they’d have to wait until at least mid-January to sign a veteran free agent.

The Lakers do have a two-way contract slot open alongside Christian Koloko and Chris Manon. With five players signed to Exhibit 10 deals, there could be an open competition in training camp for that spot. Undrafted rookie forward Eric Dixon would presumably be the favorite if he’s healthy — he was reportedly expected to sign a two-way deal in June, but after a foot injury prevented him from suiting up for Summer League games, he got an Exhibit 10 contract instead.

The Lakers do still have a handful of extension-eligible players on the roster after agreeing to terms with Doncic. Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber, Gabe Vincent, and Austin Reaves could all sign new deals. But Kleber and Vincent haven’t been healthy enough since arriving in L.A. to prove themselves as reliable, regular rotation players, and Hachimura may be more valuable as a trade chip if his contract remains expiring.

As for Reaves, he was offered an extension, but because he can’t sign for more than $89MM over four years at this point, he’s expected to wait until at least next summer, when he’d be eligible for a more lucrative contract.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Detroit Pistons

September 5th, 2025 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Duncan Robinson: Three years, $47,978,871. Second year partially guaranteed ($2MM). Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Heat.
Caris LeVert: Two years, $28,913,200. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Paul Reed: Two years, $10,938,583. Second year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
Javonte Green: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($925,106). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Duncan Robinson (sign-and-trade) from the Heat in exchange for Simone Fontecchio.
Acquired the Hornets’ 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Kings in exchange for Dennis Schröder (sign-and-trade) and either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Knicks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

Draft picks

2-37: Chaz Lanier
- Signed to four-year, $8,785,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Daniss Jenkins
- Details TBD.
Colby Jones
- Details TBD.

Note: The Pistons carried over Tolu Smith on a two-way contract from 2024/25.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Malik Beasley (unsigned)
Tim Hardaway Jr. (Nuggets)
Dennis Schröder (Kings)
Lindy Waters III (Spurs)

Other roster moves

Waived Ron Harper Jr. (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $166.8MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
One traded player exception available (worth $14,104,000).

The offseason so far

After a franchise-worst 2023/24 season in which they endured a 28-game losing streak and registered just 14 total victories, the Pistons were one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises last year, improving by 30 wins to 44-38, making the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and picking up a postseason victory for the first time since 2008 (they’d been swept out of the first round in 2009, 2016, and 2019).

Heading into the offseason, there was speculation that Detroit would try to keep the band together by re-signing free agents Malik Beasley, Dennis Schröder, and Tim Hardaway Jr. — with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren still on the rise and Jaden Ivey returning from a season-ending injury, there was a pathway for the Pistons to keep improving internally without necessarily having to make any sort of impact outside addition.

It’s entirely possible that was the initial plan, but if so, it was derailed the day before free agency opened when word broke that Beasley was under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office for gambling allegations involving NBA games and prop bets. Reporting at the time indicated that the Pistons and Beasley were working toward a three-year, $42MM contract agreement, but those talks fell apart as the sharpshooter’s NBA future turned into a giant question mark.

The terms of that proposed deal suggests Detroit intended to either use cap room or its mid-level exception to re-sign Beasley, since they only held his Non-Bird rights. The mid-level route would’ve allowed the Pistons to operate over the cap, maintaining Hardaway’s Bird rights and Schröder’s Early Bird rights, which would’ve put them in position to re-sign both players.

But even before word of the Beasley investigation broke, there were reports suggesting that the Kings intended to make an aggressive play for Schröder. That turned out to be accurate, as Sacramento signed the veteran point guard to a contract equivalent to the full mid-level exception. Hardaway, meanwhile, landed with the Nuggets on a minimum-salary deal, an offer the Pistons could’ve easily topped if they’d made the free agent wing a top priority.

Given what happened with Schröder and Hardaway, we can probably assume then that even if they’d re-signed Beasley, the Pistons were committed to making some offseason changes. Without Schröder, Hardaway, or Beasley, a more drastic overhaul of the club’s supporting cast was necessary.

The Pistons made an effort to replace Beasley’s shooting by sending Simone Fontecchio to Miami in a sign-and-trade deal for forward Duncan Robinson. Beasley is more athletic and versatile than Robinson, but few players shoot the three-ball better than the longtime Heat forward, who has knocked down 39.9% of 7.3 attempts per game over the past six seasons.

While the terms originally reported for Robinson (three years, $48MM) raised eyebrows, his deal is only fully guaranteed in year one, with a $2MM partial guarantee for 2026/27. So the Pistons will have an exit ramp next summer if the first season doesn’t go as planned (or perhaps if Beasley is fully cleared and wants to return).

Having preserved their mid-level exception by acquiring Robinson via sign-and-trade, the Pistons were able to devote that full MLE to signing Caris LeVert, whom J.B. Bickerstaff previously coached in Cleveland. In LeVert, Detroit is getting something of an amalgamation of the three veteran free agents they lost — LeVert can score (albeit not shoot) like Beasley, can serve as a ball-handler like Schröder, and has a frame more like Hardaway’s, allowing him to defend bigger wings instead of just guards.

It still feels like the Pistons could use one more roster addition, and they do have the ability to go out and get one more player — they generated a $14.1MM trade exception in the Schröder sign-and-trade and have more than enough room under the luxury tax line to use the entire thing. But with no obvious target out there for now, Detroit will probably see what its rotation looks like this fall with the newcomers and Ivey back in the mix.

For what it’s worth, minimum-salary signee Javonte Green could make a case for regular minutes, and Beasley remains an option if it looks like he’s in the clear from a legal perspective. He’s no longer a “target” of the federal gambling investigation, but he remains a “subject” of interest. The Pistons still hold Beasley’s Non-Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer him a starting salary worth up to $7.2MM. Now that the market has mostly moved on, that could be the best offer he’ll get this year.

The Pistons made two other minor offseason moves worth mentioning. Detroit was rumored to have some interest in a stretch big like Myles Turner, Naz Reid, or Santi Aldama, but with those top targets out of reach, the team fortified its depth up front by reuniting with Paul Reed, who signed a two-year, $10.9MM deal.

Reed isn’t a long-term answer in the middle and the Pistons presumably don’t view him as such (only the first year of his contract is guaranteed), but he’s a familiar and reliable depth option who can play a modest role while the team continues to consider ways to upgrade its frontcourt.

Finally, having finally conveyed a traded first-round pick to Minnesota after it landed in its protected range for several years in a row, the Pistons only had a second-round pick available in June. They used that selection – No. 37 overall – to nab Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, a five-year college player who may be polished enough to compete for a rotation role right away.

Up next

As noted above, the Pistons still have a pretty sizable trade exception available and have enough flexibility to add another $20MM to their cap sheet for 2025/26 without going into luxury tax territory. With that in mind, they’re a team worth keeping an eye on as trade talks pick up again this fall. Few playoff clubs have a more favorable short-term cap situation than the Pistons, making them an obvious candidate to make one more move before or during the season.

Detroit is currently carrying 13 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Green on a partially guaranteed minimum-salary deal, so even if they don’t do anything major before opening night, the Pistons could add a 15th man in free agency.

The more pressing preseason issue for the front office in the next month-and-a-half will be whether to complete rookie scale extensions with Duren and Ivey. Both players will be eligible for new deals up until October 20 and would become eligible for restricted free agency next summer if they don’t get something done this year.

Even with some teams around the league showing more reluctance this year to invest heavily in non-stars coming off their rookie deals, Duren seems poised to cash in. He has averaged double-doubles in consecutive seasons and is growing as a play-maker and rim protector. He’s also still just 21 years old, and with the Pistons’ long-term cap sheet relatively clean, the front office can afford to make a strong commitment to him, perhaps even via a front-loaded or flat contract that gets more team-friendly in the later years.

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report suggested a four-year, $112MM deal for Duren, while John Hollinger of The Athletic speculated that a five-year, $125MM arrangement might make sense for both sides. It looks like the four-year, $97MM contract signed by Nic Claxton last summer might be the floor for the Pistons’ big man.

Ivey, on the other hand, may have to wait until 2026 to cash in. His season ended in early January due to a broken leg, and while he appeared headed for a career year at the time, the Pistons will probably want to longer look at him in 2025/26 to see how he fits back into the mix — and to make sure that last season’s injury won’t have any lingering effects.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Denver Nuggets

August 29th, 2025 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Bruce Brown: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Tim Hardaway Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Kessler Edwards: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired Cameron Johnson from the Nets in exchange for Michael Porter Jr. and the Nuggets’ 2032 first-round pick.
Acquired Jonas Valanciunas from the Kings in exchange for Dario Saric.

Draft picks

None

Two-way signings

Tamar Bates
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Curtis Jones
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Spencer Jones
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Trey Alexander (Pelicans)
Vlatko Cancar (Olimpia Milano)
PJ Hall (Grizzlies)
DeAndre Jordan (unsigned)
Russell Westbrook (unsigned)

Other roster moves

None

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $188.3MM in salary.
No hard cap.
Taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,685,000) available.
Two traded player exceptions available (largest worth $6,880,985).

The offseason so far

Typically, a team firing both its general manager and its head coach with less than a week left in the regular season would be a sign of major dysfunction and a signal that the roster of that presumably free-falling franchise is next in line for an overhaul.

But the Nuggets, who parted ways with Calvin Booth and Michael Malone on April 8, actually had a very strong finish this spring — they won the rest of their regular season games under new leadership, knocked off a tough Clippers team in the first round of the playoffs, then took the 68-win Thunder to seven games in the second round, giving the eventual champions the most difficult challenge they faced in the Western Conference bracket.

Denver has since internally promoted executive Ben Tenzer to replace Booth and handed the head coaching reins to former Malone assistant David Adelman. The decision to stay in house to fill both jobs suggests that management believes the Booth/Malone duo, specifically, was the problem and that a full-fledged organizational reset isn’t necessary.

That thinking carried over for the most part this offseason to the roster, where a starting group headed up by Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon has been the Nuggets’ strength in recent years, while the bench has lagged behind. Only seven Denver players appeared in all seven games of the OKC series this spring, and only six of those players averaged at least 15 minutes per game, an indicator of how heavily the team leaned on its starters even after Malone’s departure.

So with one exception (which we’ll get to in a minute), the Nuggets focused this summer on upgrading their bench. They reunited with Bruce Brown, who played a significant role as a jack-of-all-trades off the bench during the club’s championship run in 2023. Based on his play that year, Brown got too expensive for Denver to retain at the time, but his stock had dropped following up-and-down stints in Indiana, Toronto, and New Orleans, opening the door for the Nuggets to bring him back on a minimum-salary deal.

The Nuggets also got a team-friendly veteran’s minimum rate for Tim Hardaway Jr., a veteran wing who hasn’t averaged fewer than 26 minutes per game or made less than $16MM in a season since 2016/17. Hardaway isn’t exactly a two-way dynamo, but he’s a solid role player who can make three-pointers (.361 career 3PT%) and is versatile enough to guard multiple positions on defense. Getting him on the minimum should pay off, especially since he’s the sort of player who could benefit from playing with Jokic.

Speaking of Jokic, the Nuggets hadn’t made it a priority in recent years to find him a reliable backup, but that was a goal this offseason, resulting in a trade that sent Dario Saric to Sacramento in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas.

It seemed for a few weeks as if Valanciunas was looking to get out of his NBA contract in order to sign with Panathinaikos in Greece, but the Nuggets wanted the big man in Denver, and non-stars who are under contract generally have little leverage to steer themselves to preferred destinations. So it didn’t come as a real surprise when Valanciunas eventually confirmed he’d be reporting to the Nuggets and expressed enthusiasm about playing for the team.

If Valanciunas embraces the opportunity available for him in Denver, he should be a great fit behind Jokic. The bruising Lithuanian is a talented low-post scorer and rebounder whose steady production could allow the Nuggets to lean a little less heavily on their three-time MVP than they’ve had to in recent years — Jokic averaged a career-high 36.7 minutes per game in 2024/25, but I’d be pretty shocked if he played that much again in ’25/26.

While much of Denver’s offseason work focused on improving the bench, the team did make one noteworthy change to its starting lineup, sending Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to Brooklyn in exchange for Cameron Johnson.

Porter was an important part of the Nuggets’ title team and has been an effective secondary scorer – and their most reliable three-point shooter – in recent years. But he was a negative on the defensive end and was overpaid on his maximum-salary contract.

Swapping him out for Johnson, who is owed just $44MMish over the next two seasons, will give Denver a comparable scorer and shooter (Johnson averaged 18.8 PPG and made 39.0% of his threes for Brooklyn last season) who should be more of an asset defensively — it also created the financial flexibility necessary to bring in a player like Valanciunas and his $10.4MM cap hit. That 2032 first-rounder, which will convey when Jokic is 37 years old, could end up being a pretty valuable pick, but the Nuggets deemed it a worthwhile risk to give it up in an effort to maximize their superstar’s prime.

Up next

The Nuggets are carrying just 14 players on guaranteed contracts and have room to add a 15th man. While they technically have several cap exceptions available, including the mid-level, bi-annual, and a pair of modest trade exceptions, using any of those – with the exception of the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception – would hard-cap them at the first tax apron. The club is already less than $3MM away from that threshold.

That means if Denver does carry a 15th man, it’s more likely to be a minimum-salary player whose contract isn’t fully guaranteed, in order to give the team some in-season flexibility. Veteran forward Kessler Edwards, who signed an Exhibit 10 deal, is one candidate to make the roster in that capacity.

For what it’s worth, due to incentives in the Johnson and Gordon contracts, the Nuggets are relatively close to the first apron despite only being $400K or so above the luxury tax line. While Denver has gone out of its way not to hard-cap itself so far this offseason, I still think the club is probably more likely to finish the 2025/26 season below the tax line than above the first apron — the Nuggets have been a taxpayer for three straight years, so dipping below that threshold this season could be an important first step toward resetting the repeater clock.

Jokic and Johnson are both eligible for veteran contract extensions this offseason, but Jokic has reportedly conveyed a preference to wait until 2026 (when he’d be eligible for a more lucrative deal), while Johnson faces extend-and-trade restrictions after being dealt to Brooklyn and may want to wait until next summer too.

That leaves Christian Braun and Peyton Watson as the Nuggets’ most important preseason extension candidates, with Braun leading the way. Having been elevated to the starting lineup last fall in the wake of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s free agency departure, Braun has emerged as a critical supporting player in Denver, setting career highs with 15.4 points per game and a .397 3PT% in 2024/25.

The Nuggets will obviously want to keep Braun long-term, but with lucrative deals for Jokic, Murray, Gordon, and Johnson already on the books, the team will have to be careful about navigating the tax aprons going forward. Denver’s previous front office made a habit of freely handing out extensions and being willing to overpay to get them done, but being too generous with Braun could create some difficult roster decisions down the road. The team should be wary of going much beyond about $85-90MM for four years.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: New Orleans Pelicans

August 28th, 2025 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signings

Kevon Looney: Two years, $16,000,000. Second-year team option. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Jaden Springer: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired the No. 23 pick in the 2025 draft and the draft rights to Mojave King from the Pacers in exchange for the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick.
- Note: The Pelicans had acquired the Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick (with top-four protection) in a previous trade; the Pacers got it back in this deal.
Acquired the draft rights to Derik Queen (No. 13 pick) from the Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to Asa Newell (No. 23 pick) and either the Pelicans’ or Bucks’ 2026 first-round pick (whichever is more favorable).
Acquired Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, and the draft rights to Micah Peavy (No. 40 pick) from the Wizards in a three-team trade in exchange for CJ McCollum (to Wizards), Kelly Olynyk (to Wizards), the Bulls’ 2027 second-round pick (to Wizards), and the draft rights to Mojave King (to Rockets).

Draft picks

1-7: Jeremiah Fears
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $34,193,629).
1-13: Derik Queen
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $24,355,797).
2-40: Micah Peavy
- Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Trey Alexander
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Hunter Dickinson
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
Bryce McGowens
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Brandon Boston Jr. (Fenerbahce)
Keion Brooks Jr. (unsigned)
Bruce Brown (Nuggets)
Jamal Cain (Magic)
Elfrid Payton (unsigned)
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (unsigned)

Other roster moves

Signed Herbert Jones to a three-year, $67,580,892 veteran contract extension that begins in 2027/28. Includes third-year player option.
Waived Antonio Reeves (non-guaranteed contract).
Waived Lester Quinones (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $183.7MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Portion of non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($6,104,000) available.
Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
Three traded player exceptions available (largest worth $13,445,122).

The offseason so far

The future in New Orleans looked bright during David Griffin‘s first year as head of basketball operations in 2019/20. The Pelicans had just acquired a haul of players and draft picks headlined by Brandon Ingram from the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis and had lucked into No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, who looked like a natural successor to Davis as the club’s franchise player.

However, injuries to Williamson, Ingram, and a handful of other key Pelicans players consistently derailed the team’s forward momentum. During Griffin’s six seasons on the job, New Orleans posted a winning record just twice and compiled a total of two playoff victories in a pair of brief postseason appearances.

The organization still hasn’t given up on Williamson, who has missed more regular season games (258) during his first six NBA seasons than he has played (214) and faced a lawsuit this spring accusing him of rape and abuse. But Ingram was traded in February, and Griffin was subsequently replaced this spring by former Pistons general manager Joe Dumars.

The decision to hire Dumars raised some eyebrows. The longtime executive was the architect of a Detroit team that advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight years during the 2000s, but the second half of his tenure with the Pistons produced underwhelming results, and it has been a while since he has even been involved in personnel decisions for an NBA team — he worked in the league office for the past three years.

Dumars’ first summer in New Orleans has been a fascinating one. On the surface, many of the moves he has made point toward a soft reset for the Pelicans. The club added a pair of rookies in the draft lottery – Jeremiah Fears at No. 7 and Derik Queen at No. 13 – and got younger in a trade that sent CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk to the Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, and second-round pick Micah Peavy.

With Dejounte Murray still recovering from a torn Achilles that figures to keep him on the shelf for the start of the season, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III coming off shoulder surgeries, and even Bey still making his way back from an ACL tear, there’s a world in which the Pelicans take a patient approach to the 2025/26 campaign, wait for all their key players to get healthy, and evaluate their core players and rookies to see how they all fit together before pushing forward in ’26/27.

But it doesn’t seem like that approach is the one Dumars and the Pelicans have in mind. The price to trade up from No. 23 to No. 13 for Queen was New Orleans’ 2026 first-round pick, which will be the most favorable of the Pelicans’ own first-rounder and the Bucks’ first-rounder — that unprotected pick was sent to Atlanta for the right to draft Queen, leaving New Orleans without a first-round selection for 2026 and strongly suggesting that tanking won’t be a consideration.

If Queen turns into an impact player and that “most favorable” 2026 pick ends up in the mid- to late-teens, the trade would be a coup for Dumars. But it carries remarkable risk, given that New Orleans is coming off a 21-win season and probably won’t have its starting point guard available when the 2025/26 season tips off. In a competitive Western Conference, they’re far from a lock to make the playoffs. And while it doesn’t look like Giannis Antetokounmpo is going anywhere at this point, the Bucks’ pick has real lottery upside too in the event of an Antetokounmpo injury or trade.

Even if the Pelicans are relatively confident another 21-win season isn’t on tap, the 39-win Mavericks just provided a reminder that the flattened lottery odds open the door for a middle-of-the-pack team to claim a top pick — the Pelicans know this first-hand, having jumped from No. 7 in the pre-lottery order to get Williamson in 2019.

The pressure will be on head coach Willie Green to turn things around after a disappointing 2024/25 season. Dumars, who has long been fond of Green and nearly drafted him for the Pistons in 2003, opted not to make a head coaching change immediately after taking the reins. However, if the Pelicans underachieve again in ’25/26, it’s not to hard to imagine Green being the next NBA head coach who finds himself on the hot seat.

In addition to Fears, Queen, Poole, and Bey, the Pelicans’ other notable newcomer this offseason was longtime Warriors center Kevon Looney. While I have some reservations about the Queen and Poole/Bey trades, I liked the Looney signing — he has long been an underrated defender and rebounder, he’s still just 29 years old, and his new two-year, $16MM contract is only guaranteed for one season. He should bring some added stability to the center position after the Pelicans had to rely on rookie Yves Missi as their starter in ’24/25.

Up next

The Pelicans are carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts for the 2025/26 season, with Jaden Springer signed to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract. Their three two-way slots have been filled.

New Orleans has about $4.2MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line, which is more than enough for a 15th man on a minimum-salary contract. While it’s possible the team will leave that spot open to start the season for the sake of flexibility, it probably makes sense for depth purposes to fill it, given that Murray likely won’t be ready to play and a few other players will be managed carefully as they return from major injuries.

Springer may be the leading 15th-man candidate for now, but the Pelicans could bring in a couple more vets on training camp deals to compete for that spot. And since whoever makes the team will likely be on a non-guaranteed contract, New Orleans will have the flexibility to waive that player a month or two into the regular season without paying his full-season salary.

The Pelicans already took care of their top extension candidate this offseason by signing Jones to a three-year, $67.6MM deal. That was a logical move that should pay off, especially if Jones – already one of the NBA’s best defenders – can continue developing and expanding his offensive game.

But that will likely be the last extension the Pelicans sign before the regular season begins. Williamson and Poole will both be eligible to sign new deals, but the club seems extremely unlikely to further invest in the duo at this point, given that they both still have multiple years left on their contracts. Poole has yet to even play a game as a Pelican, while Williamson will, at the very least, need an extended run of good health to warrant another significant commitment from New Orleans.

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