Trail Blazers To Guarantee Jabari Walker’s Contract For 2023/24
The Trail Blazers have decided to guarantee forward Jabari Walker‘s $1.7MM contract for the upcoming season, according to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). The team faced a July 20 deadline to decide whether or not to keep Walker’s salary on the books.
[RELATED: Early NBA Salary Guarantee Dates For 2023/24]
According to Highkin, the decision to guarantee Walker’s salary was a formality after the forward’s strong showing in Las Vegas this month. In five Summer League games, Walker averaged 12.4 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 62.9% from the floor.
The Blazers selected Walker, a forward out of Colorado, in the second round (No. 57 overall) in the 2022 NBA draft. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 56 games as a rookie.
Walker didn’t play much for most of the season, but closed the year on a high note after the Blazers shut down many core rotation pieces. In his final 10 appearances of the season, he averaged 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per contest.
Portland appears to think highly of Walker, having opted to keep him around on a standard contract for a second straight season. Since the inception of the two-way contract, many late second round picks begin their careers on two-way pacts rather than standard deals. The Trail Blazers signed Walker to a standard contract despite him being the second-to-last pick in the 2022 draft. Now, he appears locked in to a 15-man roster spot and a potential rotation role for the upcoming season.
Walker has a non-guaranteed contract for the 2024/25 season at $2.01MM, which would become fully guaranteed on July 20, 2024. He’ll become eligible for restricted free agency in 2025 if he’s not extended before then.
Portland now has 12 players on guaranteed standard contracts and another, Jeenathan Williams, on a non-guaranteed standard contract. Williams’ $1.7MM non-guaranteed salary becomes fully guaranteed on Aug. 1. The Trail Blazers also have two players on two-way contracts (John Butler and Ibou Badji).
Latest On Christian Wood
The Lakers are in the market to add another big man to their roster and, on paper, free agent forward Christian Wood makes the most sense, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
However, Woike writes that factors outside of the Lakers’ control could determine Wood’s landing spot. According to Woike, the Bulls are viewed as a “potential threat” to sign Wood to a contract after being granted a $10.23MM disabled player exception due to point guard Lonzo Ball‘s season-ending knee injury.
Woike adds that the Lakers are only able to offer the veteran’s minimum – worth $2.7MM for a player with seven years of service time – which is significantly less than what Chicago can offer.
Wood is Hoops Rumors’ highest-ranked remaining unrestricted free agent who has yet to agree to a deal. Despite averaging 16.6 points in 67 games (17 starts) last season for the Mavericks and at least 13.0 points per game every year since 2019, Wood is still unsigned nearly three weeks after free agency began.
We have more on Wood:
- While the Lakers are looking for additional frontcourt depth, they are being picky about what kinds of bigs they’re targeting. “We don’t want to sign someone who replicates the skills that Jaxson Hayes has,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. “So if we can diversify the big position and have different looks, that would be good.” Woike adds that Wood fits that bill and has a skill set that could complement Anthony Davis and LeBron James. In the last three seasons, Wood averaged 18.1 points and shot 38.1% from three. Other floor-spacing big men are available, Woike writes, but there aren’t many with as much upside as Wood. While Bismack Biyombo has previously been mentioned as a Lakers option, the team may ultimately view his skillset as too similar to Hayes’. Other unrestricted free agent bigs who could be in line for minimum deals include JaMychal Green, Blake Griffin and Markieff Morris.
- The Lakers have done “significant background work” on Wood, according to Woike. Head coach Darvin Ham and Wood overlapped in the 2018/19 season when Wood played with the Bucks for 13 games. Anthony Davis played with Wood in New Orleans at the end of the ’18/19 season and Lakers assistant JD DuBois was with Wood in Detroit in 2019/20.
- The Heat could be suitors for Wood’s services, according to Woike. Miami is still in a holding pattern with remaining free agents while it pieces together a potential Damian Lillard trade offer, but if the Heat land Lillard, Wood makes sense as an impact free agent signing who could play big minutes. The Heat were rumored to be in on floor-spacing big Dario Saric before he signed with the Warriors.
- While teams love Wood’s offensive play, there are reasons he is still available, potentially on a veteran’s minimum. According to Woike, sources around the league point to Wood’s subpar defensive contributions, despite his impressive 1.1 blocked shots per game last season. There also may be a disconnect between what Wood thinks his value is and what teams think his value is, Woike writes, along with concerns related to his professionalism. Even though their roster could use a floor-spacing big man, the Mavericks didn’t attempt to bring back Wood after trading a first-round pick for him last summer.
Contract Details: Yurtseven, Micic, Jones, Craig, Banton, Bazley, Petrusev
The Jazz‘s deal with Omer Yurtseven is a two-year contract that features a partial guarantee for 2023/24 and is non-guaranteed in ’24/25, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
As previously reported, Yurtseven’s first-year salary is $2.8MM. His partial guarantee for the coming season is worth half that amount ($1.4MM), tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. The big man’s deal has a descending structure, Hoops Rumors has learned, so assuming he remains under contract through the first year, his cap hit for ’24/25 will dip to $2.66MM.
Here are more details on a few recently signed contracts from around the NBA:
- Vasilije Micic‘s three-year, $23.5MM contract with the Thunder includes a team option in the third year, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- The Spurs signed Tre Jones to a two-year contract with a descending structure, Hoops Rumors has learned. The guaranteed base salaries are worth approximately $9.9MM and $9.1MM, for a total of $19MM. Jones can earn an extra $1MM in unlikely incentives to increase the total value of the deal to $20MM.
- Torrey Craig‘s two-year deal with the Bulls, which includes a second-year player option, is for the veteran’s minimum.
- Dalano Banton‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Celtics is partially guaranteed for $200K in 2023/24. His guarantee will increase to a little over $1MM (50% of his salary) if he remains on the roster beyond the first day of the regular season. His second year is a team option.
- Darius Bazley‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Nets is non-guaranteed. He’ll receive a $200K partial guarantee if he makes the opening-night roster. That partial guarantee would increase to $700K if he’s still under contract beyond December 15.
- The Sixers signed Filip Petrusev to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that is non-guaranteed in the second season. The first year is partially guaranteed for $559,782, which is half of the rookie minimum (and the equivalent of the full-season salary for a player on a two-way contract).
Thunder Sign Mark Daigneault To Contract Extension
The Thunder have signed head coach Mark Daigneault to a contract extension, the team announced today in a press release.
Oklahoma City didn’t provide any specific details on how long the new agreement will keep Daigneault under contract, simply referring to it as a “multiyear” deal.
Daigneault, 38, worked under Billy Donovan as a graduate student at Florida, then joined him as an assistant on the Gators staff from 2010-14 before making the move to OKC. He was the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue – the Thunder’s G League affiliate – for several seasons while also serving as an assistant on Donovan’s staff with the NBA club in 2016 and again in 2019/20.
Following Donovan’s exit for Chicago in 2020, the Thunder promoted Daigneault to head coach. While his 86-150 (.364) record across three seasons doesn’t look great on paper, the rebuilding club has shown real signs of progress under Daigneault, particularly in 2022/23 — OKC went 40-42 during the regular season and won a play-in game in New Orleans before losing out on the No. 8 seed by dropping a second play-in contest in Minnesota.
Daigneault, who was the runner-up to Mike Brown in Coach of the Year voting this spring, will be tasked going forward with turning an ascendant team led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort, and Chet Holmgren into a legitimate contender.
Leandro Bolmaro Signs With Bayern Munich
Free agent guard Leandro Bolmaro, the No. 23 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, officially signed with FC Bayern Munich of Basketball Bundesliga, the club announced in a press release. The pact is a two-year deal that will keep Bolmaro with the team until 2025, according to the release.
Bolmaro was drafted by the Knicks but his draft rights were traded to the Timberwolves in a three-team deal that also involved Jaden McDaniels (No. 28 overall) landing in Minnesota. The 6’6″ guard didn’t come stateside right away and played for FC Barcelona of Liga ACB, where he earned the Most Spectacular Player award in 2020/21.
After the conclusion of the ’20/21 season, Bolmaro signed his rookie scale contract with the Timberwolves. The guard played sparingly his rookie season and averaged 1.4 points in 35 games. Bolmaro played much more in the G League with the Iowa Wolves, averaging 14.8 points and 5.7 assists per night in 2021/22.
Bolmaro was included last summer in the blockbuster trade between the Timberwolves and Jazz that sent Rudy Gobert to Minnesota. He again played well in the G League in ’22/23, now for the Salt Lake City Stars, averaging 11.2 points and 4.9 assists in 16 appearances, but failed to catch on in Utah. Ultimately, Bolmaro played in just 14 games with the Jazz, averaging 0.4 points in 4.9 minutes per game.
Bolmaro was waived in February of this year and finished the ’22/23 season with Lenovo Tenerife of the Spanish ACB. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich finished the ’22/23 season 15th of 18 teams in the EuroLeague, ending with an 11-23 record.
Nets, Cavaliers To Play In NBA’s 2024 Paris Game
The Nets and Cavaliers will compete in the NBA’s Paris Game in 2024, the league announced today in a press release.
The game will take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France on January 11, 2024.
After having previously only held exhibition games in Paris, the NBA played its first regular season game at Accor Arena in January 2020, when the Bucks faced the Hornets. Following a three-year layoff due to COVID-19, the league returned to Paris this past January, with the Bulls facing the Pistons.
The contest between the Nets and Cavaliers will be the NBA’s third regular season game in France. It’ll also be the first one that features two playoff teams from the prior season.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing the live NBA experience back to Paris with two exciting teams in the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in a statement. “This game has become a destination for our passionate fans across Europe and will build on the incredible momentum around basketball and the NBA in France and throughout the region.”
The NBA’s popularity in France figures to be on the rise this season due to the stateside arrival of No. 1 overall pick and generational prospect Victor Wembanyama. A previous report indicated that there’s hope that the Frenchman’s Spurs will get a chance to participate in the Paris game in 2025.
The league announced in May that the Mavericks and Timberwolves will take part in a pair of October preseason games in Abu Dhabi, but has yet to confirm any other regular season games that will take place outside of the U.S. or Canada in 2023/24. Last season, in addition to the Paris contest, the Spurs hosted a December game in Mexico City.
What’s Next For 2023 NBA Offseason
The 2023 draft is over. Nearly all of this year’s notable free agents are off the board. And now Summer League is behind us too.
In the past, the next two months would have been dead quiet for the NBA, as players, coaches, and executives enjoyed some vacation time and prepared for training camps at the end of September.
The modern NBA has become a 12-month event though, so while the news cycle will be slower in the coming weeks than it was in late June and early July, there are still several big stories worth keeping an eye on. Here are some that we’ll be watching:
The Damian Lillard and James Harden trade markets
Lillard and Harden asked their respective teams to move them right around the start of free agency, but nearly three weeks later, it doesn’t appear that there’s been a whole lot of movement on either front.
Lillard is focused on ending up with the Heat, but Miami lacks the sort of rising young player who would appeal to Portland as the centerpiece of a package and can only currently offer two unencumbered first-round picks.
The Trail Blazers‘ ideal scenario is that another team makes an aggressive play for Lillard, betting that he won’t refuse to report to camp with four years left on his contract and a ton of money at stake. With a compelling alternative available, Portland could go back to Miami with more leverage to convince the Heat to put their very best offer on the table.
Harden, meanwhile, appears focused on ending up with the Clippers. But like the Heat, the Clips don’t necessarily have the sort of assets that would appeal to their would-be trade partner. And even if they did, finding a match between two teams with title aspirations is trickier than a contender making a deal with a rebuilding franchise.
The Sixers are seeking win-now pieces in any Harden deal, but are finding it difficult to extract a ton of value for a player on a pricey expiring contract (which can’t be extended) entering his age-34 season.
It’s still more likely than not that at least one – and maybe both – of Lillard and Harden are playing elsewhere this fall, but it might take some time for a deal to materialize. For what it’s worth, last year’s Donovan Mitchell blockbuster wasn’t agreed upon until the first day of September.
The other trade candidates
Lillard and Harden are the two big names, but plenty of other talented players continue to pop up in trade rumors deep into the offseason. Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has been linked to the Hawks, Pacers, and Magic. The Mavericks have reportedly been eyeing players like Hawks center Clint Capela and Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas, and Heat sharpshooter Tyler Herro are a few of the other players who could end up on new teams by the time the season begins.
Jaylen Brown‘s super-max negotiations
When superstars like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid have become eligible in recent years for super-max contract extensions that start at 35% of the salary cap, the negotiations have been quick and painless. After all, for perennial MVP candidates, even super-max deals can turn out to be relative bargains.
But when a player like Brown gains super-max eligibility, as he did this spring by earning a spot on the All-NBA Second Team, those extension negotiations are more challenging. Brown is the No. 2 option on the Celtics‘ roster behind Jayson Tatum. Is Boston really eager to give him what would be – for now, at least – the biggest contract in NBA history, worth upwards of $300MM over five years?
The Celtics are reportedly engaged in discussions with Brown on a super-max deal, but it sounds like it’s not as simple as giving him whatever he wants. While details about the gap between the two sides have been scarce, it’s possible Brown is seeking a fifth-year player option or a trade kicker and Boston is resisting. It’s also possible the Celtics aren’t willing to offer the full super-max amount in guaranteed money, preferring to include incentives that would give Brown the opportunity to max out his earnings if he or the team achieve certain benchmarks.
Reports out of Boston have repeatedly expressed optimism that a deal will get done, and this early in the offseason, there’s no reason to believe that’s not the case — the deadline isn’t until the day before the regular season begins. But the longer the talks drag on, the more interesting it will be to see what the eventual deal looks like, assuming they agree to one.
The other extension candidates
Like Lillard and Harden on the trade market, Brown is the headliner to watch on the contract extension front. But he’s far from the only extension candidate to monitor in the coming weeks and months.
Some teams, like the two in Los Angeles, will face decisions on whether to recommit to their injury-prone veteran superstars on lucrative new extensions — Clippers forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and Lakers big man Anthony Davis are among the players who are either already extension-eligible or will be able to sign extensions before the season begins.
Other teams will have to decide whether to invest long-term in players who are entering the final year of their rookie contracts. Hawks forward Saddiq Bey, Mavericks wing Josh Green, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, and Spurs swingman Devin Vassell are among the most intriguing candidates for rookie scale extensions, though there are many more.
Filling out – and paring down – rosters
We should get some occasional spurts of major news during the next couple months, including resolution on top remaining free agents like Christian Wood and Hornets RFA forward P.J. Washington.
However, the day-to-day headlines will be more about under-the-radar moves, like minimum-salary signings, two-way deals, and Exhibit 10 agreements, as teams work on filling out their 21-man rosters in advance of training camp.
Certain clubs may actually have to pare down their rosters in the coming weeks in order to prepare for camp. The Thunder, for example, are currently carrying 20 players on standard contracts (18 guaranteed) and one on a two-way deal.
Technically, the Thunder don’t need to make any cuts until right before the regular season begins. But they’ll want to start clearing that logjam in advance of training camp so that they can replace some veterans who won’t be on their regular season roster with younger players who they expect to remain in the organization at the G League level. Victor Oladipo, Rudy Gay, Davis Bertans, Usman Garuba, and TyTy Washington are among the players recently acquired by Oklahoma City in salary-dump trades whose spots on the regular season roster are far from assured.
The Hawks, Clippers, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Wizards are also each carrying more than 15 players on standard contracts.
Hornets’ Kupchak: Miles Bridges’ Return ‘Polarizing Topic’
Hornets president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak admits that retaining Miles Bridges might alienate some of the team’s fan base, Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes.
Bridges missed all of last season after being charged with felony domestic violence. He agreed to a plea deal and was subsequently suspended by the NBA, who will require him to sit out the first 10 games of ’23/24.
“It obviously is a polarizing topic and not everyone may agree,” Kupchak said during a Tuesday press conference. “It’s a tough situation to be in. But we started out with the legal process in Los Angeles, worked through the legal process, worked through the NBA’s investigation, our relationship with Miles, our conversations with Miles. Remorse, accountability. And it’s the best we can do. But yes, I do understand not everyone may agree.”
Bridges is returning to the Hornets after signing a qualifying offer. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Bridges realizes that some fans don’t want him back in the league.
“People think I don’t deserve a second chance and I understand that,” Bridges said. “So that’s what I’m going to try to use this year to prove to everybody just the person I am. Who is Miles Bridges and it’s not what people think he is, you know?”
Bridges noted he’ll have to repair the damage he caused.
“First of all, I just want to apologize to everybody for the pain and embarrassment that I caused everyone, but especially my family,” he said. “This year away, I’ve used it to prioritize just going to therapy and becoming the best person I can be — someone that my family and everybody here can be proud of.”
He believes he can make an impact with the current roster, which includes No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller. “I feel like I can still fit in,” Bridges said.
As for the forward’s future, Kupchak pointed out that Charlotte will have the inside track on signing him next offseason.
“Upon the conclusion of the season, he will become an unrestricted free agent and he will have Bird rights,” Kupchak said. “So, in the NBA with Bird rights, that gives you an advantage when signing free agents. Beyond that, we will just have to wait and see how the season plays out. From a basketball point of view, putting aside the serious nature of what took place, we are excited to get him back. He had his best year ever two years ago, so we are excited to get him back. And whatever it is to deal with a year from now, we will deal with a year from now.”
Los Angeles Notes: Christie, Plumlee, Leonard, Harden
Austin Reaves was a breakout performer for the Lakers last season. Could second-year guard Max Christie make similar strides?
After a strong showing in the Summer League, he feels he’s ready to step into the Lakers’ rotation, he told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.
“I feel a lot more comfortable, feel a lot more confident out here, just having the ball in my hands and being able to just play my game,” he said. “And so it’s kind of crazy what one year can do for you one year of experience. And so I think I’m reaping the benefits of just sort of staying even-keeled last year and learning a lot and being able to showcase it out here.”
Christie, who averaged 19 points per game in three appearances in Las Vegas, could carve out second-unit minutes behind Reaves at shooting guard.
We have more on the Los Angeles teams:
- Mason Plumlee re-signed with the Clippers on a one-year, $5MM contract this month and the veteran big man said his experience with the club last season was a motivating factor, per Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. “Just believing in the roster and having a little bit of playoff experience playing for (Tyronn Lue) and the staff,” he said. “To me, we were playing really well those first couple games even without Paul [George] yet into that and I just have a personal belief in this group and it’s something I wanted to be a part of.” Plumlee was acquired from Charlotte at last season’s trade deadline.
- Kawhi Leonard is extension-eligible, and The Athletic’s Law Murray says the “dialogue is healthy,” but he still doubts that a deal will be reached anytime soon. Murray anticipates Leonard will once again opt for free agency as soon as next summer, when he must make a decision on his $48.8MM option for the 2024/25 season. Murray notes Leonard did not sign an extension with San Antonio after he was named the league’s MVP and also walked away from Toronto after winning a championship there.
- Should the Clippers trade for James Harden? Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times believes so, opining that it’s the last chance for Leonard and Paul George to seriously chase a championship with the franchise.
Nuggets Sign Andrew Funk, Armaan Franklin To Exhibit 10 Deals
8:41pm: The Nuggets have signed both players to training camp contracts, according to a team press release.
10:37am: The Nuggets have reached contract agreements with a pair of undrafted free agents, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who reports (via Twitter) that rookie shooting guards Andrew Funk and Armaan Franklin will sign Exhibit 10 deals with the team.
Funk spent four years at Bucknell before transferring to Penn State for his final college season. He averaged 12.5 PPG and shot 41.2% on three-pointers as a “super-senior” in 2022/23. Of his 351 total field goal attempts, 272 came from beyond the arc.
Franklin spent two years at Indiana and then two at Virginia before forgoing his final season of NCAA eligibility. In 2022/23, he averaged 12.4 PPG and 4.1 RPG with a .373 3PT% in 33 games (29.5 MPG). His Exhibit 10 agreement with the Nuggets was first reported shortly after the draft.
Both Funk and Franklin played for Denver’s Summer League team in Las Vegas this month. Although neither had a significant role, the Nuggets apparently liked what they saw enough to add the duo to their training camp roster.
The Nuggets will have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts and three on two-way deals once they complete their reported signings, so there probably won’t be room for Funk or Franklin on the regular season roster.
Funk and Franklin may end up becoming affiliate players for Denver’s G League team, the Grand Rapids Gold. Their Exhibit 10 agreements would make them eligible for bonuses worth up to $75K as affiliate players.