Thunder Promote Ajay Mitchell To Standard Roster
The Thunder have converted rookie guard Ajay Mitchell from his two-way contract to a standard deal, promoting him to the 15-man roster, the team announced today in a press release.
Agents Todd Ramasar and Mike Simonetta tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link) that their client has signed a two-year contract worth $6MM. That deal will far exceed the prorated minimum salary for 2024/25, so Oklahoma City used a portion of its room exception to complete the signing.
The 38th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Mitchell was one of the more impressive performers in this season’s rookie class before going down last month with a turf toe injury that required surgery.
The former UC Santa Barbara standout was a regular part of the rotation for the West-leading Thunder, appearing in the team’s first 34 games of the season and averaging 16.5 minutes per night. Michell has recorded 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per contest, with an excellent shooting line of .506/.431/.848.
When the Thunder announced Mitchell’s surgery, they said he would be reevaluated in 10-to-12 weeks, suggesting he would be out for most – if not all – of the rest of the regular season.
That reduced the urgency to promote the 22-year-old shooting guard to the standard roster, but Oklahoma City will do so anyway, ensuring that if he gets healthy down the stretch, he will no longer face a 50-game NBA limit and will be eligible to play int he postseason.
The Thunder opened up a roster spot on Thursday when they waived Daniel Theis, who was acquired from New Orleans in a salary-dump trade on Wednesday, so no additional move will be necessary to make room on the roster for Mitchell.
Thunder Waive Daniel Theis
The Thunder have waived Daniel Theis, the team announced in a press release.
Oklahoma City acquired Theis and a 2031 second-round pick in a trade with New Orleans on Wednesday. The pick will be either the Pelicans’ or Magic’s, whichever is least favorable.
It was a salary-dump move for the Pelicans, and obviously Theis wasn’t in the Thunder’s plans either. The eight-year veteran appeared in 38 games for New Orleans in 2024/25, averaging 4.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.3 minutes per contest, with a shooting slash line of .473/.243/.838.
At 6’8″, Theis is undersized for a center, which has been his primary position in the NBA. Still, the 32-year-old German could provide some depth in the middle for a team seeking a reserve big man.
Theis was on a minimum-salary contract, so the Thunder will carry a dead-money cap hit of about $2.1MM if he passes through waivers. Assuming he goes unclaimed, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in a couple days and will be able to sign with any team except New Orleans.
Oklahoma City now has 14 players on standard contracts. Rookie center Branden Carlson has signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Thunder and can only be re-signed if he’s given a rest-of-season standard contract or is brought back on a two-way deal, the latter of which would require OKC to either release a player or promote one.
Thunder’s Chet Holmgren Set To Return On Friday
Even if the Thunder don’t complete any more trades before Thursday’s deadline, they’re set to make a major addition to their lineup this week.
Big man Chet Holmgren, who has been sidelined for nearly three months due to a right iliac wing fracture, is no longer on the team’s injury report and is expected to make his return on Friday vs. Toronto, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Holmgren suffered the injury, a form of pelvic fracture, on November 10 when he fell awkwardly on his side after trying to contest an Andrew Wiggins shot at the rim. Oklahoma City announced the following day that he would be reevaluated in eight-to-10 weeks.
The Thunder followed up in mid-January to say Holmgren’s next exam would come in approximately three-to-five weeks. Exactly three weeks after the team made that announcement, the 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up will reportedly be back on the court on Friday.
Holmgren averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 29.4 minutes per game across 82 starts in his first full NBA season in 2023/24 after he missed his entire ’22/23 rookie year due to a foot injury.
He had gotten off to an even better start this fall, averaging 18.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, and 2.9 BPG in 28.9 MPG across nine healthy outings, with a .519/.400/.776 shooting line.
Although the Thunder, who hold a league-best 40-9 record, hardly needed additional reinforcements, Holmgren’s return is an exciting development for the club, which still hasn’t gotten a chance to see the 22-year-old play alongside fellow big man Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC’s big free agent addition of the 2024 offseason. Hartenstein was recovering from an injury of his own at the start of the season when Holmgren was healthy.
Pelicans Trade Daniel Theis, Second-Round Pick To Thunder
3:21 pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Thunder, who sent out cash considerations in exchange for Theis and either New Orleans’ or Orlando’s 2031 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
1:01 pm: The Pelicans are trading center Daniel Theis to the Thunder along with draft compensation, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Oklahoma City will receive a 2031 second-round pick in the deal, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). New Orleans previously traded swap rights on that pick to Orlando, so the Thunder will receive the least favorable of the Pelicans’ and Magic’s second-rounders in ’31.
It’s a salary dump for New Orleans, which had been operating about $1.4MM above the luxury tax line. The Pelicans are one of two NBA teams to have never paid the tax and weren’t about to start this season for a team that currently holds a 12-38 record.
Moving Theis’ $2.1MM minimum-salary contract, which expires at season’s end, allows the Pelicans to duck out of tax territory.
If New Orleans doesn’t make any additional trades today or tomorrow, this deal will leave the team with just 13 players on standard contracts. By NBA rule, the Pelicans would need to re-add a 14th man within two weeks of trading Theis. A prorated minimum-salary signing at that point would still allow them to narrowly remain below the tax threshold.
Despite their NBA-best 39-9 record, the Thunder aren’t constricted by the tax aprons like many of the league’s other contenders. Prior to this trade, Oklahoma City’s team salary had been hovering right around $160MM, giving the club plenty of room below the $170.8MM tax line to take on additional money.
The Thunder also have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so they won’t need to waive anyone to make room for Theis, who can be acquired using the minimum salary exception.
It’s unclear if the Thunder plan to hang onto Theis after acquiring him or if they’re just making the deal for the draft compensation. The veteran center could provide some frontcourt depth in OKC after averaging 4.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 16.3 minutes per game across 38 outings (nine starts) for the Pelicans.
A rookie big man, Branden Carlson, has occupied the Thunder’s 15th roster spot for much of the season to date, first on a non-guaranteed contract and then on a pair of 10-day deals. If the team hangs onto Theis and doesn’t make any additional moves to open spots on its 15-man roster, a two-way deal would be the only path for Carlson to rejoin the squad.
Thunder, Hornets Swap Future Second-Round Picks
The Thunder and Hornets have completed a minor second-round draft pick swap, according to a Thunder press release. A Hornets press release also confirms the deal.
Oklahoma City acquired the Nuggets’ 2030 second-rounder that Charlotte possessed in exchange for the Suns’ 2029 second-rounder that the Thunder owned.
The Thunder had a stash of 2029 second-rounders. Besides controlling their own pick, they also have the rights to second-rounders from Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Miami. This gives OKC four second-rounders in 2030 — their own, plus picks from Denver, Houston and Miami.
There was already a scenario in which the Thunder would have acquired Denver’s 2030 first-round pick. The Nuggets owe Oklahoma City a top-five protected first-rounder in both 2027 and 2029. If the Thunder hadn’t received both of those picks by 2030, they would have instead been sent Denver’s 2030 second-round selection. Now they’ll ensure they receive that second-rounder even if both first-rounders convey, which is likely.
As for the Hornets, they now possess three 2029 picks — their own, Denver’s and now the Suns’. Swapping out that 2030 second-rounder from Denver for Phoenix’s 2029 selection ensures Charlotte is no longer at risk of losing out on the Nuggets’ 2030 second-rounder in the event that those aforementioned first-round Denver picks are protected.
Cap/Roster Check-Ins: Clippers/Jazz Trade, 10-Day Deals
It’s going to be a busy week at Hoops Rumors, with this year’s trade deadline just five days away. But while things are still relatively quiet, we want to take a closer look at how today’s trade between the Clippers and Jazz works from a cap perspective and where things stand with the few 10-day contracts that have been signed so far this season.
Let’s dive in…
The Clippers/Jazz trade
Utah’s cap flexibility:
The Clippers and Jazz have officially finalized a deal that sends P.J. Tucker, Mohamed Bamba, a 2030 second-round pick, and cash to Utah in exchange for Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills.
First and foremost, this is a reminder that for teams not encumbered by either tax apron, salary-matching rules in trades have never been more lenient. Bamba and Mills are on identical one-year contracts and each have a cap hit of $2,087,519 this season, but Tucker’s cap hit ($11,539,000) is more than double that of Eubanks ($5,000,000).
Teams operating below the first tax apron like Utah are permitted to take back up to 200% of their outgoing salary (plus an extra $250K) when they send out any amount up to $7.5MM. That means the Jazz are allowed to acquire up to $10,250,000 in incoming salary in exchange for Eubanks’ outgoing $5MM salary.
That’s not quite enough for Tucker, which is why Mills was added to the deal. With $7,087,519 in total outgoing salary, the Jazz’s maximum incoming amount increases to $14,425,038. That’s more than enough to accommodate both Tucker and Bamba, who are earning a combined $13,626,519, though Bamba’s minimum deal can be absorbed using the minimum salary exception, meaning salary-matching is only necessary to acquire Tucker.
The Jazz entered the day with a team salary of $143,653,620. This trade increased that figure to $150,192,620, which is still more than $20MM below the luxury tax line ($170,814,000). In other words, Utah has more than enough breathing room below the tax line to make this sort of deal two or three more times over before the deadline.
Of course, the Jazz don’t have enough expendable players to make exactly this sort of trade two or three more times. But the team could, for instance, take back extra salary when moving players like John Collins, Collin Sexton, or Jordan Clarkson, and also still has its $8MM room exception available to absorb a contract or two outright. That flexibility should serve Utah well and make the Jazz a team to watch for the rest of the week.
The Clippers’ tax-ducking:
Meanwhile, the Clippers were one of five NBA teams that entered the day on Saturday operating over the tax by less than $6MM — Los Angeles had been about $2.47MM above the tax line and has now moved to approximately $4.07MM below that threshold.
Steve Ballmer is the richest team owner in the NBA, so he probably barely would’ve noticed if he’d to pay L.A.’s relatively small projected tax bill of $6.2MM. But the Clippers will now be in position to receive a share of the tax distribution for non-taxpayers too. The exact amount of that per-team distribution remains up in the air depending on what other moves are made this week, but it could be in excess of $15MM. That’s not nothing.
Perhaps more importantly, after being a taxpayer for each of the previous four seasons, the Clippers move a step closer toward resetting their “repeater” clock. If they can avoid the tax at least once more in a coming season, the Clips will shed their repeater status and will only face standard tax penalties when they become a taxpayer again down the road, rather than the far more punitive repeater penalties.
The difference between standard and repeater penalties is substantial, especially with repeater rates set to rise in 2025/26, so resetting that clock is a big deal — it puts the Clippers in position to spend big on their roster a few years from now without still being on the hook for extra tax payments as a result of their high payrolls in the Paul George era.
The Pelicans, Cavaliers, Mavericks, and Warriors are the other four teams who are over the tax line by less than $6MM. I don’t expect all of them to try to get out of tax territory before Thursday’s deadline, but New Orleans, at least, is a virtual lock to do so and it’s possible one or two others will consider it.
Ten-day contracts
Branden Carlson and the Thunder:
Carlson’s second 10-day contract with Oklahoma City expired overnight on Friday, making him a free agent and reopening the 15th spot on the Thunder‘s roster. Because a player can’t sign three 10-day contracts with the same team in a season, the Thunder would have to offer Carlson a rest-of-season deal if they want to bring him back.
I don’t see that happening before Thursday’s trade deadline — my guess is that the Thunder will leave that 15th spot open for now in case they need to use it in a trade this week. If the spot remains free after that, they might consider their options on the buyout market over the next few weeks before making any final decisions on their 15th man.
Carlson is a candidate to fill that opening eventually. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Thunder decide to promote Ajay Mitchell from his two-way contract to the standard roster and look to bring Carlson back on a two-way deal before the March 4 deadline for two-way signings.
However, Mitchell’s toe surgery, which may sideline him for the rest of the season, is a factor working in Carlson’s favor for that 15th spot — if Mitchell isn’t able to contribute in the playoffs, there will be no urgency for the Thunder to get him locked up before the summer.
For what it’s worth, Carlson was playing regular minutes off the bench with Isaiah Hartenstein sidelined and had made at least one three-pointer in eight straight games, but he was a DNP-CD in each of the two games after Hartenstein returned from his calf strain.
Orlando Robinson and the Raptors:
Now that Carlson’s 10-day deal has expired, Robinson’s second 10-day contract with Toronto is the only one in the league still active.
It has been a very quiet winter so far for 10-day signings, as our tracker shows — I expect things will pick up after the trade deadline when more teams open up roster spots, but as of now, the Raptors and Thunder are the only two teams that have signed any players to 10-day contracts this season.
Robinson’s contract is set to expire at the end of Thursday, hours after the trade deadline passes. Don’t be surprised if the Raptors end up terminating that deal one day early. They don’t have a game on Thursday, so Robinson would be the easy choice to be cut if they need to open up a spot to accommodate an extra incoming player in a trade.
Robinson has averaged 16.8 minutes per game in Toronto’s last four contests and looks like a candidate to earn either a standard or two-way rest-of-season contract if the Raptors can accommodate it after the trade deadline.
Northwest Notes: Strawther, Westbrook, Thunder, Garza, Henderson
Nuggets guard Julian Strawther is establishing himself as a reliable part of Denver’s rotation and an outside scoring threat, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. The second-year Gonzaga product is averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting 37.9% from deep, giving the Nuggets a clear-cut eighth option for their rotation.
For Strawther to maintain his role in coach Michael Malone‘s rotation heading into the playoffs, Denver will need to ensure his development continues at a steady pace, Durando writes.
“What I love about that kid is his work ethic,” Malone said. “He was in our gym every day this summer. And I’m not making that up. Sometimes you hear these stories. They’re inflated. Julian Strawther was in our gym every day this summer.”
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Russell Westbrook exited Denver’s game against the Sixers on Friday night due to hamstring tightness and did not return, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports. Westbrook didn’t appear to have a limp and it’s unclear if he’ll miss any additional time due to the injury. If he does, Christian Braun would reenter the starting lineup in his place.
- If the Thunder make a trade at the deadline, it should be a move on the margins and not one that impacts the team chemistry of a squad that has a real shot at winning a title, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman opines. Mussatto comes up with three potential trades, including one for Nets forward Cameron Johnson. Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and Hawks guard Garrison Mathews are two lower-cost targets suggested by Mussatto.
- Timberwolves backup big Luka Garza has a history of big performances against Utah, Chris Hine of The Star Tribune observes. In five career games against the Jazz, Garza holds career averages of 12.2 points per game on 58.8% shooting from three, his most against any team. On Thursday, Garza stepped up with Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley and Julius Randle dealing with injuries, scoring 16 points.
- Trail Blazers second-year guard Scoot Henderson is putting together more and more good-to-great games and he’s growing as a leader for Portland, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes. In 16 games in January, Henderson averaged 14.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 43.8% from three. “His energy has been crazy,” teammate Deandre Ayton said. “He’s becoming a true point guard, being very vocal, talking to everybody.”
Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Smart, Thunder, Rockets, Fox
Marcus Smart is a player to watch in advance of next Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Insider link), who hears from league sources that there has been “plenty of discussion” as of late about the Grizzlies guard.
Memphis paid a significant price to acquire Smart from Boston during the 2023 offseason, but the former Defensive Player of the Year has been plagued by injuries since that deal, appearing in just 38 games since arriving in Memphis. During that time, young players like Jaylen Wells, Vince Williams, and GG Jackson have emerged for the Grizzlies, perhaps lessening the need for Smart.
Bontemps also points out that moving Smart’s $21.6MM salary off the Grizzlies’ 2025/26 books would put the team in a better position to make moves over the summer, including potentially re-signing restricted free agent Santi Aldama.
Within a look at the top three teams in the Western Conference standings, Windhorst says that Memphis has been “significantly more active” in trade talks than either Oklahoma City or Houston leading up to the February 6 deadline.
Here’s more on those other two West leaders, along with an additional trade-related tidbit from Bontemps and Windhorst:
- The Thunder have made it clear they don’t plan to be aggressive on the trade market during the season, according to Windhorst, who notes that the West’s leaders still haven’t had both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein available at the same time and also swung and missed on an in-season deal (for Gordon Hayward) at last year’s deadline. “With all their draft picks, they can do anything, but they benefit if they can convince everyone they plan to do nothing,” a general manager told Windhorst. “Every team that wants to deal with them will want them to overpay. Plus, teams who want to make a trade will want to engage them because it would raise the price for everyone else.”
- One reason the Rockets have repeatedly conveyed that they’re not looking to make a major in-season deal is that they want to see how their current group fares in the postseason, Bontemps writes. According to Windhorst, while Houston is well positioned to consolidate assets in a trade for a star, the team remains optimistic about Amen Thompson‘s potential to develop into that sort of player. As a full-time starter across 12 outings in January, the second-year wing has averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game with a 55.7% field goal percentage.
- Examining how the De’Aaron Fox situation in Sacramento got to a place where the Kings are exploring moving their star point guard, Windhorst cites sources who say Fox has been “less engaged than usual” this season after declining a preseason extension and that it didn’t help matters when he received “undeserved blame” for the firing of head coach Mike Brown. One league executive who spoke to ESPN thinks Sacramento is right to make the 27-year-old available while he has still has a year and a half left on his contract. “Bottom line here is the Kings seem to know Fox isn’t going to re-sign with them,” that exec said. “That’s clarifying, and now they can be a first mover and do it at a time when they can get the best deal. This is how Utah played things with Donovan Mitchell a few years ago. They got out ahead of it and generated a bidding war.”
Southwest Notes: Paul, Wembanyama, Zion, Rockets, Grizzlies
As the Spurs move into the trade spotlight as a potential destination for Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox, Chris Paul is urging his younger teammates to ignore the online chatter, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Paul has been traded six times and has seen many teammates come and go during his 20-year career, so he’s encouraging everyone to focus on controlling what they can, which means trying to stop a recent slide that has seen San Antonio fall to 12th place in the West.
“Trades, trade deadlines always get tricky,” Paul said. “I know enough GMs, coaches. A lot of them were my teammates and friends. Things can change. One minute, they’re not trying (to make a deal) and then they are. I done heard it all, trust me. So, control what you can control. Show up, do your job. And hopefully people deal with you respectfully. That’s all you can hope for.”
Acting coach Mitch Johnson is also concerned about how trade rumors will affect his players, many of whom have never dealt with that type of speculation before. He notes that social media makes trade rumors inescapable, especially when a high-profile player like Fox comes on the market.
“Social media has gotten to a point now where if you want to find it, you can go look for it. Not even during just the trade deadline,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of opinions on how we play every game, what you wear to the game, what shots you took, what comment you said, and hopefully it’s just something where guys don’t need to look for that stuff. With that being said, it’s a human part and this is a business, and I think it’s understandable when people have feelings about their personal situation. I think we have a great organization that’s always been very supportive and (has emphasized) we’re going to control things we can control.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Lakers star Anthony Davis suggested this week that there’s a “narrative” in place to have Victor Wembanyama win Defensive Player of the Year honors, but the second-year Spurs big man told Orsborn that he doesn’t consider individual achievements to be that important. Wembanyama, who was named to his first All-Star game on Thursday, is leading the league in blocks at 3.9 per game. “It’s not something I worry about,” he said. “If I end up being Defensive Player of the Year, it means I’ve helped my team on that side of the court. It means I’ve done my best and I’ve been rewarded for it, but at the end of the day, the best reward is the wins.”
- After missing more than two months with a strained hamstring, Zion Williamson believes he has sufficiently recovered to play both ends of back-to-backs, per Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, the Pelicans are still being cautious, holding him out last Friday at Memphis before using him Saturday at Charlotte. “Let me make this clear to everybody out there,” Williamson said. “If I could play in the back-to-backs, I would. Physically? Yes, I can. But I work for the Pelicans. They have decided that, based off the numbers, it’s not smart to do that right now. If that’s what they feel, I’m rocking with them on that.”
- Kelly Iko and John Hollinger of The Athletic discuss how the top three teams in the West should approach the trade deadline, looking at the options for the Rockets and Grizzlies as well as the Thunder.
NBA Announces 2025 All-Star Reserves
The 2025 NBA All-Star reserves were revealed on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA broadcast and officially confirmed by the league (Twitter links).
Fourteen players will join the 10 starters announced last week in the All-Star Game in San Francisco on Feb. 16.
All-Star reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches. Here are the players who made the cut:
Eastern Conference reserves:
- Guard: Cade Cunningham, Pistons
- Guard: Damian Lillard, Bucks
- Guard: Darius Garland, Cavaliers
- Guard: Tyler Herro, Heat
- Frontcourt: Jaylen Brown, Celtics
- Frontcourt: Evan Mobley, Cavaliers
- Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam, Pacers
The East features three first-time All-Stars in Cunningham, Herro and Mobley. The guard spots in the East were highly contentious, with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey among those also in the running. Ball finished first in fan voting, but that had no bearing on the coaches’ decisions.
The Cavaliers are well-represented in San Francisco, with Donovan Mitchell named a starter last week and Garland and Mobley now joining him. This is Garland’s second All-Star nod after being named in the 2021/22 season. Jarrett Allen also had a shot at a spot, but ultimately wasn’t voted in.
This is Jaylen Brown‘s fourth All-Star appearance, Lillard’s ninth, and Siakam’s third.
Western Conference reserves:
- Guard: Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
- Guard: James Harden, Clippers
- Frontcourt: Anthony Davis, Lakers
- Frontcourt: Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies
- Frontcourt: Alperen Sengun, Rockets
- Frontcourt: Jalen Williams, Thunder
- Frontcourt: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Wembanyama, Sengun and Williams are each first-time All-Stars. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama has taken several steps forward to help the Spurs to a 20-24 record, putting them in contention for a play-in spot. Meanwhile, Sengun and Williams are key contributors for the top two seeds in the conference.
Edwards, in his third overall and consecutive appearance, is having a career year from beyond the arc, connecting on 41.8% of his 9.8 three-point attempts. We wrote earlier today about how the Grizzlies view Jackson as a bona fide star amid their 31-16 record this season.
Veterans Harden and Davis round out the West reserves. Harden, the most decorated reserve, is making his 11th appearance in the game while averaging 21.7 points and 8.4 assists per game in his age-35 season. Davis continues to be one of the premier defensive players in the league en route to earning his 10th All-Star nod. The Lakers big man is currently injured and out at least one week, but it’s unclear if that would affect his availability for the All-Star Game, which is still more than two weeks out.
Fresh off making the NBA Finals last season, the Mavericks won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game, with Luka Doncic injured and Kyrie Irving not earning a spot. The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, the Clippers’ Norman Powell, the Suns’ Devin Booker and the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox were among those who were not named to the team.