Cap Observations: KD Trade, Valanciunas, Kings, H. Gonzalez
As we catch our breath on the Fourth of July and await updates on the top remaining free agents - including an intriguing group of restricted free agents and veteran unrestricted free agents like Al Horford, Chris Paul, and Russell Westbrook - we're taking a look back at a few of the intriguing stories from the past few days.
In the space below, we're exploring what the seven-team Kevin Durant figures to look like, why the Nuggets and Kings are still moving forward with their Jonas Valanciunas/Dario Saric swap amid rumors about Valanciunas wanting to play in Greece, what the rumors about Sacramento's interest in Jonathan Kuminga suggest, and more.
Let's dive in...
Magic Re-Sign Moritz Wagner
July 7: The Magic have officially signed Wagner, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
July 4: The Magic and veteran free agent Moritz Wagner have agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal that will see the big man return to Orlando, according to reports from Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel and Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The older brother of Magic star Franz Wagner, Moritz has been with the team for four-plus seasons, having originally signed late in the 2020/21 campaign.
Wagner appeared well on his way to a career year in 2024/25, with averages of 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game and a shooting line of .562/.360/.718 through 30 contests. However, a torn left ACL in December prematurely brought his season to an end.
Faced with an increasingly expensive roster – and with Wagner still recovering from that ACL tear – Orlando declined its $11MM team option on the 6’11” forward/center last weekend, but there was always an expectation that the club wanted to bring him back at a reduced rate. With his Bird rights in hand, the Magic have the ability to re-sign Wagner without using any mid-level or bi-annual exception money.
Wagner will have the ability to veto a trade in 2025/26, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That right is automatically awarded to a player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal with a second-year option, though many players agree to waive that veto ability as part of their contract agreement (as Wagner did a year ago).
Having traded for Desmond Bane last month and agreed to sign Tyus Jones in free agency earlier this week, Orlando now projects to operate in luxury-tax territory for the 2025/26 season.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter), the Magic only have enough room below their first-apron hard cap to sign second-round pick Noah Penda or a veteran-minimum player as their 14th man, but not both, unless perhaps Jones’ and Wagner’s deals come in a little lower than reported.
NBA Players Lose $484MM From 2024/25 Salaries
The NBA’s basketball-related income (BRI) for the 2024/25 season came in at $10.247MM, as first reported by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) and as outlined in greater detail by Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. That total was less than projected, resulting in player salaries being reduced by a total of approximately $484MM for ’24/25.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for players to earn 51% of the NBA’s BRI in each season, and the league holds back a percentage of player salaries in order to ensure that revenue split is achieved. In 2024/25, 10% of player salaries were held in escrow, and 91% of that money in escrow was ultimately sent to the teams, with just 9% going to the players.
As a result, players earned just 90.9% of their reported salaries in 2024/25. For a player like Warriors star Stephen Curry, who had the NBA’s highest ’24/25 cap hit at $55.76MM, that would mean his actual earnings were about $5MM less than that.
Badenhausen suggests overall league revenue came in lower than originally anticipated due to a variety of factors, including a turbulent year for local media deals. The fact that multiple small-market teams – including the Pacers and the champion Thunder – made deep playoff runs also likely reduced the overall gate receipts for the playoffs, he adds.
While players came out on the wrong end of the escrow split this season, that isn’t always the case. As Badenhausen points out, in three straight seasons from 2014-17, league revenue surged to the point that players not only got back the full amount of their salaries held in escrow but also received supplemental checks to ensure the BRI split was met.
Conversely, during the COVID-shortened seasons, the league held back a higher percentage of player salaries in escrow due to the lost revenue.
The players shouldn’t have to worry about receiving their full salaries in 2025/26, Badenhausen writes, with the league’s new media deals taking effect. The NBA will be collecting roughly $7 billion annually as a result of their 11-year, $76+ billion agreements with ESPN/ABC (Disney), NBC, and Amazon, beginning this season. The league’s previous media deal with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) was worth $24 billion over nine seasons, or about $2.7 billion per year.
Wizards Among Teams Eyeing Jonathan Kuminga
The Wizards are the latest potential suitor to emerge in the Jonathan Kuminga sweepstakes, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who reports that Washington has entered the picture within the last 24 hours. The idea of the 22-year-old forward fitting into the Wizards’ rebuild has “gained real momentum,” sources tell Slater.
In addition to Washington, the Kings, Heat, Bulls, Bucks, and Nets have all expressed “varying levels” of interest in the Warriors‘ restricted free agent, Slater writes.
Confirming prior reporting out of Sacramento, Slater says the Kings floated an offer that would include 2024 first-round pick Devin Carter, veteran forward Dario Saric, and a pair of second-round picks. However, Golden State views that as a “buy-low” attempt, per Slater, who suggests the Pacific rivals haven’t gained any real traction.
Both the Warriors and Kuminga appear willing to be patient in the hopes of getting what they want out of the process, Slater explains. From the team’s perspective, that would mean acquiring a promising young player and a first-round pick in any sign-and-trade scenario. For Kuminga, the goal is ending up in a situation where he feels he has the full support of an organization and its coaching staff and can be a featured part of a team’s core.
If there’s no resolution by the time the Las Vegas Summer League tips off next week, the tentative plan is for Kuminga’s camp to have in-person meetings with interested teams in Vegas, Slater notes.
One of those meetings could involved the Warriors. As Slater details, the idea of the former No. 7 overall pick working out a deal to remain in Golden State isn’t off the table, so there has been talk of Kuminga, agent Aaron Turner, head coach Steve Kerr, and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. sitting down together in Vegas to discuss what a reunion might look like.
Kuminga appeared in just 47 games in 2024/25, having missed more than two months due to a badly sprained ankle. He had an inconsistent role when healthy, averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes per game, with a .454/.305/.668 shooting line.
Although he was out of the Warriors’ rotation entirely for some key games at the end of the regular season and in the postseason, Kuminga averaged 24.3 points per game on .554/.389/.720 shooting in his final four playoff games vs. Minnesota after Stephen Curry injured his hamstring, providing a reminder of his offensive upside ahead of his restricted free agency.
Rockets Sign Kevon Harris To Two-Way Deal
July 5: The Rockets have officially signed Harris to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
July 3: The Rockets and free agent shooting guard Kevon Harris have agreed to terms on a two-way contract, agent Darrell Comer tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Harris has excelled at the G League level in recent years, earning MVP honors at the NBAGL’s Next Up Game at All-Star weekend in February. On the season, he averaged 19.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 steals in 31.1 minutes per game across 44 Tip-Off Tournament and regular season outings for the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s affiliate.
Harris’ NBA résumé is thinner, but the 28-year-old made 36 total appearances for Orlando from 2022-24 while on a two-way contract with the Magic. He was on an NBA roster most recently when he signed a 10-day deal with the Hawks in March.
Harris will join a Rockets team that currently has one of its two-way slots filled (David Roddy), with a two-way qualifying offer out to a second player (N’Faly Dante).
A two-way contract allows a team to shuttle a player back and forth between the NBA roster and its G League affiliate, with a 50-game regular season limit at the NBA level. Two-way players earn half the rookie minimum salary.
Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Beal, Suns, CP3, Bucks, Lillard, Heat
The Suns and Heat had exploratory talks this week about the possibility of a Bradley Beal trade, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). However, those discussions “ultimately collapsed,” resulting in a rising belief that the veteran guard will ultimately be bought out by Phoenix.
If the two sides do end up working out a buyout agreement, expect the Heat to show interest in signing Beal as a free agent, per Fischer and Stein, who say the Bucks would also be interested in adding the three-time All-Star if he reaches free agency.
Here’s more from The Stein Line duo:
- In addition to looking more seriously at a possible Beal buyout, the Suns have also engaged in conversations with teams about various trade scenarios involving center Nick Richards and wings Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, Stein and Fischer say.
- After turning away interest from the Mavericks and Hornets earlier in free agency, Chris Paul continues to consider the Suns and Clippers. Stein and Fischer confirm he’s also receiving interest from the Bucks, who have been on the lookout for another point guard in the hopes of filling the sizable hole left by Damian Lillard‘s Achilles injury (and impending release). ESPN’s Shams Charania said during a Thursday SportsCenter appearance that Paul, who is known to prefer playing closer to his family in Los Angeles, spoke to Bucks officials on Wednesday (hat tip to Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report).
- Speaking of Lillard, Stein and Fischer classify the Heat‘s interest in signing the Oakland native as “serious,” but acknowledge that the injured star will likely be in no rush to sign his next contract.
- The Pacers, Kings, and Pelicans are among the other teams who remain on the hunt for another point guard, Stein and Fischer write.
Pacific Notes: Horford, Warriors, Reaves, Luka, Ayton, Huntley
Teams around the NBA widely believe that free agent big man Al Horford will end up on the Warriors, Jake Fischer said during on a Bleacher Report stream on Thursday (YouTube link).
Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed that the Warriors are “hopeful” about where they stand in the Horford sweepstakes, but cautioned that a decision may not be imminent and that there’s no guarantee the 39-year-old will continue his playing career.
“I’m told he is reviewing multiple options, including the Warriors, the Lakers, but also retirement,” Charania said, per RealGM. “He is 39 years old. He just finished season 18. I’m told it would be a surprise if he makes a final decision by this weekend. He certainly has earned the right to make a decision at his own time.”
Charania made his comments before the Lakers agreed to bring back free agent center Jaxson Hayes, so it’s unclear whether or not they’re still in play for Horford.
If they do want to add more frontcourt depth, the Lakers could open up a 15-man roster spot by moving off Shake Milton‘s non-guaranteed contract and would have $5.1MM in bi-annual exception money to offer Horford, though there has been chatter linking De’Anthony Melton to that roster spot, as Dan Woike of The Athletic tweets.
Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- The Warriors are in the market for a veteran big man in large part because long-tenured center Kevon Looney is headed to New Orleans. Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic takes a look back at what Looney meant to Golden State, referring to him as the team’s “backbone.”
- Austin Reaves‘ agent, Aaron Reilly, denied a report from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter video link), who claimed that Reaves and LeBron James don’t like playing with newest Lakers star Luka Doncic. “Austin has nothing but the utmost respect for Luka and truly enjoys playing alongside him,” Reilly said, per Trevor Lane of Lakers Nation (Twitter link). “Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false. He’s excited to be on the court with Luka—both now and in the future.
- While Deandre Ayton is getting a second-year player option on his new deal with the Lakers, neither side wants him to exercise it, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic, who explains that both Ayton and the Lakers are hoping he far outperforms that the value of that option (in the $8.4MM range) and can command a significant raise in free agency next summer. Team sources are confident the Lakers have the right coaching staff to make it happen, Woike writes, noting that JJ Redick has a reputation for relating to players and assistant Scott Brooks previously worked with Ayton in Portland.
- The Suns‘ two-way contract with undrafted rookie forward CJ Huntley will cover two seasons, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Hornets Sign Kon Knueppel, Three Other Draft Picks
The Hornets have signed all four of the prospects they selected in the 2025 NBA draft, the team announced today in a press release.
That group is headlined by Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick out of Duke, who was one of the best outside shooters in college basketball in 2024/25, knocking down 2.2 three-pointers per game at an elite rate of 40.6% as a freshman. He was a member of the All-ACC second team and was named this year’s ACC Tournament MVP.
Assuming Knueppel receives the maximum allowable 120% of his rookie scale amount, which is a virtual lock, his four-year deal will be worth $45.49MM. The first two years are guaranteed, with team options on years three and four.
The Hornets’ other first-round pick was UConn’s Liam McNeeley, who was drafted using the No. 29 overall pick that Charlotte acquired from Phoenix as part of the Mark Williams trade. 120% of McNeeley’s rookie scale slot works out to a four-year, $14.19MM deal.
McNeeley, 19, averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 32.1 minutes per game for UConn in 27 outings (26 starts) as a freshman. He made just 38.1% of his field goal attempts and 31.7% of his three-pointers, though those struggles can be attributed in part to the Huskies playing without a traditional point guard.
The Hornets also had two of the top four picks in the second round, using No. 33 on Knueppel’s Blue Devils teammate Sion James and No. 34 on Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner.
James, who spent four years at Tulane before playing his super-senior season at Duke, was a member of the ACC’s All-Defensive team this season and made a career-high 41.3% of his three-point shots, albeit on a relatively small sample (31-of-75). He received a four-year, $9.97MM contract worth the maximum amount of the second-round pick exception, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That deal will be fully guaranteed for the first two seasons.
As for Kalkbrenner, details of his contract aren’t yet known, but it sounds like he signed a standard deal using the second-round exception too. There could be a path to playing time for the last of Charlotte’s four draft picks, given that the team doesn’t have much frontcourt depth at the moment, with Mason Plumlee and Moussa Diabate the only real options at center. That could change between now and the start of the regular season, however.
Kalkbrenner, who spent five years at Creighton, won four Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards and was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year for all of college basketball in 2025.
The Hornets will have a roster crunch to deal with at some point before the season begins. Once they complete all their reported transactions – including re-signing Tre Mann, acquiring Pat Connaughton, and adding Plumlee and Spencer Dinwiddie – they’ll have 16 players on guaranteed contracts and three more (including Diabate) on non-guaranteed deals.
Lillard Open To Signing This Offseason, Won’t Rush Decision
Star point guard Damian Lillard is open to signing with a team during the 2025 offseason if the terms and conditions are right, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
Lillard has received “ample” interest from teams since word broke that he was being waived by the Bucks for cap reasons while he recovers from a torn Achilles, but he isn’t in a rush to make his decision, Haynes adds.
Technically, Lillard is still a Buck, as the team hasn’t yet placed him on waivers. There has been no rush to do it right away, since most signings and trades can’t be completed until 11:00 am Central time on Sunday, once the July moratorium ends. However, I’d expect the move to happen in the coming days so that Milwaukee has the cap room necessary to complete their deal with Myles Turner sooner rather than later.
Agent Aaron Goodwin put out a statement on Tuesday referring to being waived as an “incredible opportunity” for Lillard, who will continue to be paid the $112.6MM owed to him by the Bucks as he rehabs his Achilles tear and weighs his next move. One report on Tuesday evening indicated that at least 10 teams had already touched base with the nine-time All-Star, with the Celtics, Warriors, and Lakers said to be among them.
While Marc J. Spears of Andscape said during an ESPN appearance that there’s “speculation” about Lillard returning around the 2026 All-Star break, that feels like an aggressive timeline, given that the veteran’s Achilles tear occurred in late April. He’ll turn 35 later this month and it wouldn’t be in his best interest to rush his return from an injury that often costs players a full calendar year.
Spears also stated that Lillard wants to rehab his injury in Portland in order to be close to his family, so even if he were to sign with a new team this offseason, it’s unclear how much time he’d actually spend around that club this fall.
Still, it’s no surprise that a number of teams would be willing to use one of their 15-man roster spots on Lillard in 2025/26 — even if he’s not able to return before the end of the season, that would give the club the opportunity to build a relationship with him ahead of his return to full strength next year.
Nuggets’ Spencer Jones Accepts Two-Way QO
Restricted free agent forward Spencer Jones is back under contract with the Nuggets on a new two-way deal, according to NBA.com’s transaction log. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) confirms that Jones accepted the two-way qualifying offer issued by Denver over the weekend.
Jones, who signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets last July after going undrafted out of Stanford, appeared in just 20 NBA regular season games as a rookie, averaging 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per contest. He knocked down only 11-of-34 field goal attempts (32.4%), including 1-of-17 (5.9%) from the beyond the arc.
While Jones didn’t make an impact in a small sample size for the NBA squad, the Nuggets were encouraged by what they saw from him in the G League. In 21 games for the Grand Rapids Gold, the 24-year-old averaged 14.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 30.5 minutes per game, with much stronger shooting percentages of 51.8% from the field and 45.3% on three-pointers.
Those shooting numbers are more reflective of Jones’ skill set than his NBA stats. He left Stanford as the program’s all-time leader with 315 career made three-pointers.
The Nuggets now have a pair of players on two-way contracts, with Jones joining newcomer Tamar Bates. They’ll each be eligible to appear in up to 50 regular season games for Denver in 2025/26.