Quentin Grimes Gets Qualifying Offer From Sixers
The Sixers have tendered an $8.7MM qualifying offer to Quentin Grimes, a league source tells Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While the move was never in doubt, it’s significant because it officially makes Grimes restricted heading into the start of free agency on Monday. He and the team are continuing to negotiate a new deal that could keep him off the open market, Iko adds.
Grimes made $4.3MM this season in the final year of his rookie contract and positioned himself for a large raise with a scoring explosion after being traded to Philadelphia in February. The 25-year-old shooting guard averaged a career-best 21.9 PPG in 28 games with the Sixers with .469/.373/.752 shooting numbers.
Grimes was the team’s number one scoring option late in the season, but he’ll be dealing with a more crowded backcourt situation if he remains in Philadelphia. Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain will both be returning from injuries, and the Sixers added rookie guard VJ Edgecombe with the third pick in this week’s draft.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported last weekend that Grimes is expected to get offers that exceed the $14.1MM non-taxpayer midlevel exception if he becomes a free agent.
Re-signing Grimes might force the Sixers to part with free agent big man Guerschon Yabusele, although the team won’t have a clear picture of its financial situation until Kelly Oubre and Eric Gordon make decisions on their player options. Backup center Andre Drummond exercised his $5MM option on Friday.
Lakers Rumors: LeBron, Finney-Smith, Reaves, Luka, Centers
With one day until LeBron James must make a decision on his $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin is hearing the same thing his colleague Shams Charania was a month ago: James is expected to exercise that option to play out the final year of his current contract.
James has considered retirement every offseason since 2023, according to McMenamin, but it sounds like he’s committed to playing a record-setting 23rd NBA season in ’25/26. A source familiar with LeBron’s thinking also tells ESPN that he’s not entering next season with “any certainty that it will be his last.”
The other Lakers forward with a player option decision to make, Dorian Finney-Smith, is interested in returning to Los Angeles, a source tells ESPN. However, it sounds like he’ll also have interest in adding multiple years to his current contract, either via opting in and extending or by opting out to sign a new contract. If the only way for him to stay with the Lakers is by picking up his option with no guarantee of an extension, he may test the open market, McMenamin explains.
As McMenamin writes, head coach J.J. Redick trusts Finney-Smith, who was popular in the Lakers’ locker room, so I’d expect the team to try to lock him up. But if he does walk, it would at least open up the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, giving L.A. more options to replace him in free agency, McMenamin notes. The club projects to just have the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception available if James and Finney-Smith return on their option salaries.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- The Lakers understood that Austin Reaves would turn down the four-year, $89MM extension offer they put on the table for him, but the team didn’t want to send the wrong signal by not offering it, says McMenamin. According to his sources, the two sides remain motivated to work out a new deal next summer, when Reaves will have the ability to opt out of his current contract.
- A source close to Luka Doncic tells ESPN that Mark Walter‘s agreement to buy a majority stake in the Lakers was viewed as a positive development from the star guard’s perspective. “You always want the wealthiest owners, so that speaks for itself,” the source said to McMenamin. “And his track record speaks for itself. … (Doncic) wants to win. This owner’s proven that he wants to win. So this is a plus-plus.”
- McMenamin confirms a couple more Luka-related notes, citing sources who say the former Mavericks star remains motivated by how he was treated on his way out of Dallas, and committed to a training and nutrition program this offseason; and writing that Lakers assistant Greg St. Jean will be a part of the Slovenian national team’s coaching staff this summer as Doncic represents his home country in the EuroBasket tournament. The former was initially reported by Dan Woike of The Athletic, while the latter was first reported by Andrej Miljković of Ekipa24.
- Addressing the Lakers’ hunt for a center, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said during a Thursday night press conference that the team has been “super active” and will “turn over every stone” as it seeks a solution, tweets Woike. Nic Claxton of the Nets and Robert Williams of the Trail Blazers are among the possible trade targets the Lakers have “mulled internally” since last season, according to McMenamin, who also mentions several other previously reported names.
Blazers Exercise Rayan Rupert’s 2025/26 Option
The Trail Blazers are picking up Rayan Rupert‘s team option for the 2025/26 season, reports Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). The team issued a press release confirming the move is official.
Rupert’s $2.22MM salary for next season will technically remain non-guaranteed for a couple more days, but will become fully guaranteed as long as he remains under contract through Tuesday (July 1). It sounds like that will happen.
[RELATED: NBA Team Option Decisions For 2025/26]
A 6’6″ wing from France, Rupert has been with Portland since being selected 43rd overall in the 2023 draft. He has appeared in 91 NBA games during his first two NBA seasons, but has seen a limited role, with averages of 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 12.0 minutes per game and a shooting line of .370/.321/.764.
The 21-year-old has been more of a go-to option during stints with the Rip City Remix, Portland’s G League affiliate. In 11 games with the Remix this past season, he put up 18.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG on .497/.229/.692 shooting.
With his option exercised, Rupert will be extension-eligible beginning in July, though a new deal seems unlikely unless he moves up on the depth chart this season. Assuming he plays out his current contract, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2026.
Warriors Make Jonathan Kuminga Restricted FA
The Warriors have issued qualifying offers to three players, making them restricted free agents, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
That trio includes forward Jonathan Kuminga, one of this summer’s most intriguing young free agents. The 22-year-old received a qualifying offer worth roughly $7.98MM. The other two players getting qualifying offers from the Warriors are Taran Armstrong and Nico Mannion — they both received two-way QOs.
Kuminga, whose season was derailed in January by a badly sprained ankle that sidelined him for over two months, has an inconsistent rotation role for Golden State in 2024/25, continuing a years-long trend. He averaged just 24.3 minutes per game and struggled to settle into a regular role following the trade-deadline acquisition of Jimmy Butler, since lineups featuring Kuminga, Butler, and Draymond Green didn’t feature enough shooting to be viable. That trio had a -24.9 net rating in just 38 minutes together during the regular season.
Kuminga, who posted career lows in shooting percentage (45.4%) and three-point percentage (30.5%), even earned DNP-CDs during a handful of games at the end of the season, in the play-in, and in the first round of the playoffs. However, a Stephen Curry hamstring strain in the second round of the postseason opened the door for him to reclaim a major offensive role and give his stock a boost entering free agency — he averaged 24.3 points per night on .554/.389/.720 shooting in those games.
Kuminga spoke recently about wanting to claim more of a featured role going forward, whether that happens with the Warriors or another team.
As we explain in our glossary entry, a qualifying offer is a procedural one-year contract offer, with the value determined by the player’s draft slot and/or previous salary. For some RFAs, the qualifying offer simply serve as a placeholder while the player and the team work out a multiyear deal. In other cases – especially for two-way players like Armstrong – the QO is more likely to be accepted.
Mannion hasn’t been with the Warriors since 2021, having played overseas since then, but the team continues to tender him a two-way qualifying offer every June in order to retain his RFA rights in case he eventually returns to the NBA.
Nets Pick Up Team Options On Four Players
The Nets have exercised their team options for 2025/26 on four players, the team announced today (Twitter link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). Those players, along with their option salaries, are as follows:
- Keon Johnson ($2,349,578)
- Jalen Wilson ($2,221,677)
- Tyrese Martin ($2,191,897)
- Drew Timme ($1,955,377)
Crucially, Brooklyn’s decision to pick up these options does not mean that all four players now have fully guaranteed salaries.
As outlined on our team option decision tracker, Johnson will receive a partial guarantee worth about $272K, while Wilson will receive on worth roughly $88K. Martin’s and Timme’s salaries remain entirely non-guaranteed.
Johnson and Wilson will see their partial guarantees increase if they make the regular season roster, but Martin and Timme will remain non-guaranteed until January, so exercising these options doesn’t really affect the Nets’ cap flexibility at all. They could always waive one or more of these players down the road while retaining little to no salary on their cap.
Johnson, Wilson, and Martin each earned regular minutes in 2024/25 for a rebuilding Nets team. Johnson, a 6’5″ shooting guard, emerged as a starter in December after Cam Thomas went down with a hamstring injury, averaging 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 24.4 minutes per game across 79 appearances (56 starts) on the season.
Wilson, a 6’8″ forward, put up 9.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 25.7 MPG, starting 22 of his 79 outings. Martin, a 6’6″ wing, averaged 8.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 21.9 MPG across 60 games (11 starts).
Timme, a former Gonzaga big man, earned a late-season promotion from the G League and saw plenty of action down the stretch, registering averages of 12.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 2.2 APG in nine games (28.2 MPG).
Counting their four players on guaranteed contracts, their five first-round picks, incoming trade acquisition Terance Mann, and these four players with options, the Nets already have 14 players on their books for 2025/26. That list doesn’t include restricted free agents Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Ziaire Williams, or anyone else the Nets might add using their significant cap room in the coming days or weeks.
In other words, there likely won’t be enough spots to go around for everyone, so I wouldn’t count on all four of these players opening the season on Brooklyn’s 15-man roster.
Cavs Re-Sign Sam Merrill To Four-Year Deal
July 6: Merrill’s four-year contract with the Cavaliers is now official, according to the team.
June 28: The Cavaliers and free agent guard Sam Merrill have agreed to a four-year, $38MM contract that will keep him in Cleveland, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
After spending some time in Milwaukee and Memphis at the beginning of his NBA career, Merrill has been with the Cavs for the past two-plus seasons. He initially signing a 10-day contract in March 2023 before receiving a multiyear minimum-salary commitment that has turned into a bargain for Cleveland.
Merrill, 29, established himself as a regular rotation player in 2023/24 and continued to play consistent minutes for the Cavs in ’24/25 as they racked up 64 regular season wins. Across those two years, he averaged 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 18.7 minutes per game, with a 38.8% mark on 5.5 three-point attempts per night.
In addition to providing important floor spacing for the Cavs, Merrill took a step forward as a defender this past season, earning kudos from coaches and teammates for his effort on that side of the ball. He ranked 35th in our list of 2025’s top 50 free agents.
There was some uncertainty about whether Cleveland would be able to re-sign Merrill due to the team’s rising payroll. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link) wrote this morning that there had been a “pessimistic tone coming from the organization” about its odds of retaining Merrill and/or his fellow free agent Ty Jerome, though Fedor did say that re-signing one of the two remained in play.
Given that the Cavs reached a trade agreement for a point guard (Lonzo Ball) earlier in the day and has now struck a deal with Merrill, the odds of Jerome re-signing look increasingly slim. He’s believed to be seeking a contract that starts at or around the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
Already projected to operate over the second tax apron next season, Cleveland will now move even further above that threshold. Cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link) estimates that re-signing Merrill will increase the Cavs’ tax penalty next season by about $50MM, to nearly $143MM, though that number is just a projection and could increase or decrease depending on what other moves the teams make.
Pistons, Clippers Eyeing Nickeil Alexander-Walker?
After the Timberwolves reached a five-year, $125MM contract agreement with big man Naz Reid on Friday, there’s a “growing belief” that they’ll bring back power forward Julius Randle on a new multiyear deal as well, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
That might make Nickeil Alexander-Walker the odd man out in Minnesota, since re-signing the free agent guard to a market-value deal (perhaps in the range of the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception) would push the Wolves’ salary well above the second tax apron, unless Randle takes a substantial pay cut.
According to Fischer, with Alexander-Walker’s future in Minnesota seemingly uncertain, the Pistons and Clippers have been continually identified as possible suitors for the veteran free agent guard. The Magic, who were previously identified as a team with potential interest in Alexander-Walker, are still being mentioned too, Fischer says, though their cap situation could complicate their ability to make a viable bid.
As Fischer details, it appears increasingly likely that Sacramento will make an aggressive play in free agency for Pistons free agent guard Dennis Schröder, so Detroit could look elsewhere for backcourt help and Alexander-Walker would make for an appealing target.
The Pistons have a few balls in the air, however. Sources tell Fischer that the club was prepared to make the roster moves necessary to put a competitive offer on the table for Reid before he agreed to re-sign with the Wolves. Detroit remains in the market for a floor-stretching big man, prompting Fischer to wonder if the front office might turn its attention to Santi Aldama, though the Grizzlies‘ power forward will be a restricted free agent.
The Pistons are also expected to work out a new multiyear deal with sharpshooter Malik Beasley, Fischer writes, despite only holding his Non-Bird rights. Given the team’s limited ability to offer a raise with the Non-Bird exception, Detroit would likely have to re-sign Beasley using cap room or its mid-level exception, which would further cut into the team’s spending flexibility.
As for the Clippers, the expectation is that they’ll be in the market for guard depth this summer. In Kris Dunn, L.A. already has one talented defensive stopper in its backcourt, but Alexander-Walker is more of an offensive threat than Dunn, having knocked down 38.6% of his three-point attempts over the past two seasons.
Depending on where a new contract for James Harden comes in, the Clippers should have their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception available this summer.
Davion Mitchell Re-Signs With Heat On Two-Year Deal
July 7: Mitchell has officially re-signed with the Heat, per the transaction log at NBA.com.
June 28: Free agent guard Davion Mitchell intends to re-sign with the Heat, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from sources that Mitchell has agreed to a two-year, $24MM contract. The deal will be fully guaranteed, Charania adds.
The ninth overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Mitchell spent his first three seasons in Sacramento, where he earned a reputation as a tenacious perimeter defender but struggled to provide value on offense, averaging 7.4 points and 2.8 assists in 20.4 minutes per game across 227 outings, with a .434/.327/.703 shooting line.
However, Mitchell had a solid first half in 2024/25 after being traded from Sacramento to Toronto last summer, then took his game to another level down the stretch following another trade that sent him from the Raptors to the Heat.
The 26-year-old emerged as a full-time starter in Miami, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game with a .504/.447/.702 shooting line in 30 regular season contests 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 also played his usual strong defense in 2024/25. As Charania notes (via Twitter), among players to contest at least 500 shots, Mitchell ranked in the top five in opposing field goal percentage as the contesting defender, per ESPN Research.
The Heat issued an $8.74MM qualifying offer to Mitchell earlier this week, making him a restricted free agent. The Heat would have had the right to match any offer sheet he signed with a rival team, but he directly negotiated with Miami instead, opting not to test the market.
Mitchell’s new contract means the Heat will likely have to waive Duncan Robinson or negotiate a new contract with him in order to avoid crossing the luxury tax line, tweets Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Robinson has until Sunday to make a decision on an early termination option worth $19.9MM. If he opts in for 2025/26, his salary would be guaranteed for $9.9MM, so Miami could create $10MM in cap savings by waiving him (or more than that waiving him and using the stretch provision on his partial guarantee).
Mitchell was ranked 27th on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
Atlantic Notes: Nets Draft, Celtics, Knicks, Broome
The Nets‘ draft left fans with more questions than answers after they spent an NBA record five first-round picks in the same class, with the talents of some selections overlapping. Still, as Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily writes, one thing is for certain: the Nets made sure to value what they saw as high-character players during this process.
“I loved just how hard a worker he is,” general manager Sean Marks said of No. 8 overall pick Egor Demin. “I saw him up close and personal in his individual workouts and other workouts that we had here with the group, and was able to compare what we saw during the season to what we saw now, and the uptick and the improvement that we saw was pretty outstanding. So I know he’s a class act of a young man, but he’s also a real worker, and that’s exciting for me, when the guy’s going to put in the due diligence.”
Brooklyn’s brass didn’t see the class as overlapping as much as outsiders did. In particular, Marks expressed that Demin and No. 19 overall pick Nolan Traore could coexist.
“I think we’d love to see both of them play together, for sure,” Marks said of Demin and Traore. “I think we always look at it a little bit of best player available at that particular time … But, you know, I think we’ve got to be very careful penciling a player into being a certain position, or playing a certain way when they’re 19 years old.”
In a subscriber-only story covering similar ground, Brian Lewis of The New York Post describes Marks’ type as quick-processing, ball-moving play-makers.
“Where we’re going with this is, we’re trying to find a brand of basketball that not only we think translates to a competitive brand out there and it’s going to fit with the Brooklyn community,” Marks said, “But it’s also where the NBA is going: guys who can play multiple positions, guard multiple positions and make it hard on the defense.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Celtics elected to trade back from No. 32 in the draft to obtain the Nos. 46 and 57 selections as well as two future second-round picks. “All the time we’re looking for the ability to get more assets in the future and still get a bunch of good players,” vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren said in explaining the decision, per MassLive’s Brian Robb. “We felt pretty confident that there’d be guys we liked lower in the draft and we had the ability to add a couple of really good future draft picks in addition to getting those guys. So, that’s what we did.”
- While there is still uncertainty about where the Knicks stand in their head coaching search, Ian Begley of SNY reports Mike Brown made a strong impression and has garnered internal support. In the same story, Begley explores where the Knicks standing entering free agency, noting that they’ll have the taxpayer mid-level exception worth up to $5.7MM to offer free agents, as well as the veteran’s minimum.
- By using a second-round pick to draft Johni Broome out of Auburn, the Sixers made a bet on a player who has been exceptional at every level of basketball he’s played, and one who should be a strong culture fit in Philadelphia, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes (subscriber link). “I would say my will to win and hating to lose,” Broome said of his biggest strength. “When you hate losing, you do whatever it takes. … If that’s owning up to your mistake or calling out one of your teammates’ mistakes, I think that’s what helps winning, when everybody’s bought in and everybody’s on the same page of wanting to win. I think that’s just where it comes from.”
Bulls Trade Lonzo Ball To Cavaliers For Isaac Okoro
July 6: The one-for-one trade is official, according to a Bulls press release.
June 28: The Bulls are trading point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers in exchange for forward Isaac Okoro, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Ball, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, has played for Chicago since 2021. However, due to multiple knee injuries, he spent the better part of those four years recovering. He missed the entirety of the 2022/23 and ’23/24 seasons before returning to the lineup this past year.
While his playing time was down from his career averages this season, he still recorded 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per night and had positive on/off-court numbers.
The Bulls signed Ball to a two-year, $20MM extension in February despite trade interest at the time. He’s on the books for $10MM this coming season and has a team option for 2026/27.
Acquiring Ball gives Cleveland a versatile guard to add to its lineup. The 27-year-old has proven to be an effective defender, shooter and facilitator when healthy. The Cavs’ decision to acquire a point guard could also point to pessimism in their ability to re-sign impending free agent Ty Jerome.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are taking a flier of their own in obtaining former No. 5 overall pick Okoro. The Cavaliers didn’t re-sign Okoro to a multi-year contract until September of last year after he became a restricted free agent following the 2023/24 season.
Okoro’s playing time decreased in new head coach Kenny Atkinson‘s system, and he averaged career lows of 6.1 points and 19.1 minutes per game. In the playoffs, Okoro’s averages shrunk to 4.6 PPG across 14.2 MPG.
He’ll be in the second year of the three-year, $33MM deal he inked with Cleveland last year. He’ll count for $11MM against the cap in 2025/26 before his salary rises to a guaranteed $11.8MM next season.
Ball drew interest on the trade market prior to February’s deadline, with the Grizzlies, Pistons, and Timberwolves said to be among the teams to register interest at that time. The Bulls were reportedly offered draft capital in February, but didn’t want to take on a sizable multiyear contract.
Assuming the Ball/Okoro swap is completed as reported, it will hard-cap the Bulls at the first tax apron for the rest of the 2025/26 league year, since they’ll be taking in more salary than they’re sending out. The trade will become official in July, after the players’ new cap hits take effect.