Ajay Mitchell Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Turner, Robinson, Mitchell, NAW, Kyrie, Jones

July 8th, 2025 at 6:53am CST by Luke Adams

Myles Turner‘s new four-year contract with the Bucks came in a little higher than expected, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter).

Using the cap room left over after waiving and Damian Lillard and buying out Vasilije Micic (via the stretch provision), Milwaukee was able to give Turner a starting salary of $25,318,251. With annual 5% raises, his deal is worth a total of approximately $108.87MM. As previously reported, the contract also includes a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.

Here are a few more details on contracts officially signed around the NBA in recent days:

Using Simone Fontecchio‘s outgoing salary ($8,307,692) and the expanded traded player exception ($8,527,000), the Pistons were able to take back a maximum of $16,834,692 in incoming salary. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly the starting salary that Duncan Robinson got on his new deal with Detroit via sign-and-trade (Twitter link via Gozlan). Robinson’s three-year deal has a declining structure and offers few guarantees after the first year — just $2MM of his $15.99MM salary in 2026/27 is guaranteed, and his entire $15.15MM salary for ’27/28 is non-guaranteed.
Ajay Mitchell‘s new three-year deal with the Thunder came in a little lower than expected, at $8.7MM, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. It includes a fully guaranteed $3MM salary for 2025/26, replacing the team option Oklahoma City turned down that was worth the same amount. His $2.85MM salary for ’26/27 is partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, while ’27/28 is a $2.85MM team option.
Reported to be worth $62MM over four years, Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s new contract with the Hawks came in at $60,647,200, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It includes a fourth-year player option and a 7.5% trade kicker. It also declines in year two (from $15,161,800 to $14,403,710) before ascending again in year three ($15,161,800) and four ($15,919,890).
The three-year deal between Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks is worth $118,473,846, with a third-year player option and a 15% trade kicker, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It starts at $36,566,002, with annual 8% raises.
Tre Jones‘ three-year, $24MM contract with the Bulls has a flat structure, with annual cap hits of $8MM, and a third-year team option, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

QO Updates: J. Walker, A. Mitchell, Two-Ways, Mann

June 30th, 2025 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers opted not to tender forward Jabari Walker a qualifying offer prior to Sunday’s deadline, reports Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). As a result, Walker will become an unrestricted free agent.

Walker put up solid numbers in a limited role for Portland last season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game, with a .515/.389/.690 shooting line, across 60 appearances. However, his playing time dropped off significantly from the previous year, a signal that the Blazers were prioritizing other young players over the 22-year-old.

Meanwhile, the Thunder issued Ajay Mitchell a qualifying offer, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), who notes that it’s a procedural move for Oklahoma City, since the second-year guard has already agreed to sign a three-year, $9MM contract with the team. The QO will just ensure he’s a restricted free agent when free agency opens — he’ll be able to officially finalize that new deal on July 6.

The following players who finished the 2024/25 season on two-way contracts also received qualifying offers ahead of Sunday’s deadline, per Smith (unless otherwise indicated):

Branden Carlson, Thunder (link)
Jesse Edwards, Timberwolves (link)
Tyson Etienne, Nets (link)
Trentyn Flowers, Clippers (link)
Mac McClung, Magic (link)
Tristen Newton, Timberwolves (link)
Oscar Tshiebwe, Jazz (link via Tony Jones of The Athletic)

In each of these cases, the player’s qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal, with a small portion (approximately $85K) guaranteed.

While a rival team could technically sign any of these players to an offer sheet during free agency, we essentially never see that happen with two-way free agents. Most of them end up either accepting their two-way QOs or agreeing to new standard contracts with their current teams.

While it’s possible that news of a qualifying offer slipped through the cracks within the last 24 hours, it appears that RealGM’s official transaction log is up to date with all of the QOs that were issued prior to Sunday’s deadline.

If that’s the case, one notable player who didn’t receive a qualifying offer is Hornets guard Tre Mann. His QO would have been worth about $6.96MM, but if Charlotte didn’t put it on the table, that means he’s on track to be unrestricted when free agency opens later today.

[UPDATE: Mann didn’t receive a qualifying offer, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms (via Twitter).]

We’ll publish our full recap of 2025’s qualifying offer decisions later this morning.

Thunder Re-Sign Ajay Mitchell To Three-Year Deal

June 29th, 2025 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

July 6: Mitchell has officially re-signed with the Thunder, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

June 29: The Thunder will decline their 2025/26 team option on Ajay Mitchell, opting instead to sign the guard to a three-year contract worth $9MM, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The new deal will start in ’25/26, replacing the $3MM option.

The 38th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Mitchell initially signed a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, but earned rotation minutes during the first half of the season, averaging 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes per game on a strong shooting line of .495/.383/.829 across 36 appearances.

However, Mitchell’s promising rookie season was derailed in January by a turf toe injury that kept him on the shelf for more than three months. He returned in the final week of the regular season, then played a limited role during the team’s title run, mostly playing in garbage time.

Having finalized a three-year extension with Jaylin Williams as well, the Thunder will have 14 of the 15 players from their championship team back under contract for next season once Mitchell’s deal is official. While it’s still early in the offseason and more moves are possible, it looks like replacing Dillon Jones with 2025 first-rounder Thomas Sorber may be the only real change Oklahoma City makes to its roster this summer.

Thunder Notes: SGA, Caruso, Williams, Holmgren, Game 2 Adjustments

June 9th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set a record for the most combined points by a player in his first two NBA Finals games as the Thunder defeated Indiana to even their series at 1-1, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. After taking 30 shots to reach 38 points in Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander was more efficient on Sunday, going 11-of-21 from the field and 11-of-12 from the foul line en route to a 34-point performance.

MacMahon notes that SGA also established a franchise record with his 12th 30-point game of this year’s playoffs, topping the mark set by Kevin Durant in 2014.

“I’m being myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t think I tried to reinvent the wheel or step up to the plate with a different mindset. Just try to attack the game the right way. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”

The reigning MVP and the league’s best regular season team both looked more in character in Game 2 than they did while letting a 15-point fourth quarter lead slip away in the opener. Gilgeous-Alexander resumed his normal role as a facilitator as well as a scorer, handing out eight assists after having just three in Game 1. His assists went to seven different teammates, and six of them resulted in made three-pointers.

“He’s just getting better and better, which is very impressive,” Jalen Williams said. “Obviously, he’s the MVP of the league. For him to continue to get better is good. He just trusts us to make plays. I think when your best player is out there and he trusts you to make a play, it just gives you more confidence. He understands that. I think that’s one of the roles he’s gotten really good at and grown at, and it just makes our team better.”

There’s more on the Thunder:

Defensive sparkplug Alex Caruso delivered 20 points off the bench to help keep the game out of reach, per Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. It was a scoring mark he didn’t achieve in any game during the regular season, and it was more than any Pacers player was able to muster. “He’s one of those guys who you know is going to bring it every single night,” Chet Holmgren said. “Whether he’s 22 or 30, doesn’t matter. He’s going to bring it. I feel like, as a collective, we really feed off of that. Then also his ability to kind of process things that are happening out there and relay it and communicate it to everybody else is really important for us.”
After subpar showings in the series opener, Williams and Holmgren delivered more typical outings in Game 2, notes Will Guillory of The Athletic. Williams contributed 19 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Holmgren added 15 points and six rebounds. Aaron Wiggins chipped in 18 points off the bench as the Thunder reserves outscored the Pacers’ reserves, 48-34.
Coach Mark Daigneault stuck with his smaller starting lineup from Game 1 — with Cason Wallace replacing Isaiah Hartenstein — but he made a few adjustments on Sunday, observes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Holmgren and Hartenstein saw time together, allowing Oklahoma City to be more competitive on the boards, and rookie guard Ajay Mitchell was barely used.

Thunder Notes: Offseason, Mitchell, Caruso, Daigneault

June 8th, 2025 at 5:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

While the Thunder look to avoid dropping a second straight game to the Pacers in Sunday’s Game 2 Finals matchup, teams around the league are eyeing Oklahoma City’s roster construction with interest, writes Jake Fischer for The Stein Line (Substack link).

That’s not just because of the success general manager Sam Presti has had building a small-market powerhouse, but also because the team currently has the maximum 15 players under contract for next season while holding three top-45 picks in the 2025 draft, two of which are first-rounders (Nos. 15 and 24).

Fischer writes that the team has a unique level of flexibility that could allow it to make any number of roster moves. That could include declining rookie guard Ajay Mitchell‘s team option and bringing him back on a two-way contract, which would require some level of trust from Mitchell. It could also mean packaging picks to move up into the lottery, and Fischer reports that some teams in that range of the draft are expecting that possibility to present itself. The Thunder could also trade out of the draft, rather than up, to continue accumulating future draft assets and delay making a decision.

The Thunder are already set to add last year’s lottery pick Nikola Topic to the rotation after he missed the entirety of the 2024/25 season, so in addition to roster spots, there’s also a question of how many minutes will be available for first-year players next year.

We have more Thunder news:

Speaking of Mitchell, the former second-round pick’s inclusion in the Game 1 rotation for the Thunder was somewhat unexpected, considering he had only played 64 playoff minutes heading into the Finals. However, that was what made it such a Thunder move, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The team prides itself on its next-man-up approach, and on Thursday night, that meant Mitchell seeing the first Finals action of his nascent career. “I don’t think there’s more nervousness, I think maybe more excitement just because it’s the Finals. But at the end of the day, it’s basketball. Once you step on the court, there’s nothing really else that matters. When I step on the floor, it’s just basketball,” Mitchell said.
Alex Caruso‘s journey to the NBA Finals began with a 2016 audition for an Exhibit 10 contract, a workout that quickly showed who he would become as a basketball player and teammate, writes ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “By midway through the workout, he’s coaching the workout. He’s doing what he does,” coach Mark Daigneault said. But even the oft-lauded Presti didn’t quite know what he had in the versatile defender, and Caruso eventually left for the Lakers without ever having been called up from the Thunder’s G League affiliate. It’s fitting that now, as a 31-year-old veteran with championship pedigree, he has returned to where it all began to help his former coach and organization, both on the court and as a mentor to the cadre of young, defensive-minded guards on the roster.
Daigneault has taken a lion’s share of the blame for Oklahoma City’s Game 1 collapse against the Pacers, who once again came back miraculously to steal Game 1 on the road. While it’s natural to look for a target for blame after such a dramatic letdown, SI’s Rylan Stiles writes that putting it all on the head coach isn’t the right way to look at it. While changing the starting lineup that had gotten the team to the Finals before Game 1 was a controversial decision, the starting unit wasn’t why they lost the game, Stiles writes, and neither was playing Mitchell. While Daigneault could have, and probably should have, brought Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back into the game sooner in the fourth quarter or experimented with double-big lineups, the team’s second and third options, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, ultimately weren’t good enough. If either had played even slightly better, Stiles writes, the Thunder would be up 1-0 and none of these questions would be popping up at all.
There are specific things the Thunder can do to ensure the end of Game 2 doesn’t play out as it did in Game 1, writes ESPN’s Zack Kram. The first thing is to put Game 1 out of their heads completely — something the Knicks seemed to struggle to do after losing Game 1 against the Pacers in similarly deflating fashion. As Stiles wrote, Williams and Holmgren need to step up, as they did against the Timberwolves, especially as the team sacrifices size and rebounding to keep up with the Pacers’ frenetic pace. They also need to move the ball quicker and not devolve into stagnant offensive possessions around Gilgeous-Alexander isolations. Indiana is counting on the MVP scoring, but Oklahoma City can hurt the Pacers by getting the supporting cast involved.

Ajay Mitchell On Track To Return For Thunder

April 11th, 2025 at 8:23am CST by Rory Maher

Oklahoma City wrapped up the top overall seed entering the 2025 playoffs when Cleveland lost to Indiana on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, most of the Thunder‘s rotation regulars — including the entire starting lineup — have already been ruled out for Friday’s matchup in Utah.

However, as Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman tweets, one player not listed on the injury report is rookie guard Ajay Mitchell. The 38th overall pick of last year’s draft, Mitchell has been out of action since January 3 due to a turf toe injury.

The Thunder announced on Jan. 10 that Mitchell had undergone a procedure to address the injury and would be reevaluated in 10-to-12 weeks. It has been 13 weeks since that announcement, so his recovery process seems to have gone pretty well.

According to Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire, Mitchell has ramped up his activity over the past week, including going through pregame warmups on Tuesday.

Mitchell was one of the more impressive impressive rookies of 2024/25 prior to sustaining the injury, appearing in each of the Thunder’s first 34 games while averaging 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists on .506/.431/.848 shooting in 16.5 minutes per contest.

The 22-year-old was on a two-way deal at the time, but he was promoted to a two-year standard contract in February, making him eligible for the postseason.

It seems unlikely that Mitchell will be a part of the playoff rotation after such a lengthy layoff, but it’s obviously good news that he will be active for the first time in three months. OKC’s regular season will conclude on Sunday in New Orleans.

Contract Details: Butler, Post, Mitchell, Craig, Two-Ways

February 10th, 2025 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Jimmy Butler‘s new two-year contract extension with the Warriors became official last Thursday as part of the trade that sent him from Miami to Golden State, per RealGM’s transaction log. That deal, which replaces Butler’s player option for 2025/26, projects to be worth $54,126,450 next season and $56,832,773 in 2026/27.

Those figures hinge on a presumed 10% salary cap increase for the ’25/26 season. Butler’s deal will start at 35% of the cap, with a 5% raise for the second year. Based on the maximum possible cap increase, which is anticipated, that would work out to a two-year total of $110,959,223 for the newest Warrior.

Meanwhile, Hoops Rumors has learned that Quinten Post‘s new standard two-year contract is a minimum-salary contract that includes a team option for 2025/26. The Warriors will have the ability to either exercise that $1.96MM for next season or turn it down in the hopes of signing the big man to a longer-term contract as a restricted free agent.

Here are a few more updates on recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

Ajay Mitchell‘s new two-year, $6MM contract with the Thunder includes a guaranteed $3MM for the rest of this season, which comes out of Oklahoma City’s room exception. It also features a $3MM team option for 2025/26, which means – like Golden State with Post – Oklahoma City could decline the option in order to sign Mitchell to a longer-term deal as a restricted free agent this summer.
Torrey Craig‘s new contract with the Celtics is a one-year, minimum-salary deal, Hoops Rumors has learned, so the veteran wing will be back on the unrestricted free agent market during the coming offseason.
While Branden Carlson (Thunder), Orlando Robinson (Raptors), and Jordan Goodwin (Lakers) signed two-way contracts that will expire at season’s end, Ethan Thompson‘s new two-way deal with the Magic covers two years, so Orlando will have the option of keeping him on that contract through the 2025/26 season, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Thunder Promote Ajay Mitchell To Standard Roster

February 6th, 2025 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

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’s Ajay Mitchell Out At Least 10-12 Weeks

January 10th, 2025 at 5:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell has undergone a procedure to address a turf toe sprain in the great toe on his right foot, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Thunder, the plan is to reevaluate Mitchell in approximately 10-to-12 weeks. That means he’s expected to be sidelined until at least late March, and possibly beyond that.

The 38th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Mitchell has been one of the more impressive performers in this season’s rookie class. He has been 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. He missed the past two games due to what Oklahoma City initially referred to as a sprained toe.

The 22-year-old shooting guard has recorded 6.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per contest, with an excellent shooting line of .506/.431/.848.

Mitchell had been considered a strong candidate to be promoted from his two-way contract to a standard deal at some point this season. That’s still a possibility, but there will be less urgency for the Thunder to make a move until late in the season, since the former UC Santa Barbara is no longer at risk of reaching his 50-game NBA limit in February or March.

The Thunder would have to promote Mitchell to the 15-man roster to make him eligible for the postseason.

Fischer’s Latest: Butler, Grizzlies, Bucks, Suns, Beal, More

January 8th, 2025 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Exploring the Jimmy Butler situation in his latest Substack article for The Stein Line, Jake Fischer confirms that the Grizzlies and Bucks are among the teams that Butler’s camp has discouraged from trading for the Heat forward. Chris Haynes first reported that Memphis had been advised not to pursue Butler, while Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports later added that Milwaukee had received a similar message.

Fischer also confirms that the Suns clearly appear to be Butler’s preferred landing spot, not only because he wants to team up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker but because team owner Mat Ishbia has established himself as a free spender who would presumably give Butler the sort of contract extension he’s seeking.

If Phoenix makes a move for Butler, it would have to include Bradley Beal, but the Suns have no desire to broach the subject with Beal – who has a no-trade clause – unless they’re able to figure out a multi-team scenario that could work. Miami reportedly has no interest in taking on the well-paid veteran guard and his no-trade clause.

“You can’t bring anything to Brad unless there’s a deal on the table,” a veteran Eastern Conference executive told Fischer. “You can’t lose him until you know you’re going to move him.”

While they would like to land Butler, the Suns are also actively exploring other options on the trade market, gauging what sort of return they could acquire if they were to give up their 2031 first-round pick, which is their only tradable first-rounder, Fischer writes.

Here’s more from Fischer:

Although the Suns‘ decision to remove Beal from their starting lineup has been widely viewed as an attempt to encourage him to waive his no-trade clause, sources tell Fischer the team is hoping the move to the second unit will “spark more of an aggressive output” from the guard as a “microwave scorer.” Of course, there’s no reason that both explanations can’t be true.
The Grizzlies have made Luke Kennard, John Konchar, and draft capital available as they seek an upgrade on the trade market. But even if Butler were open to moving to Memphis, it’s unclear if the team would have an appetite for a bigger deal that would involve Marcus Smart and Brandon Clarke, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the Grizzlies highly value both of those players.
The Thunder and Kings opened up roster spots on Tuesday by waiving Branden Carlson and Orlando Robinson, respectively. Those roster spots may come in handy on the trade market, but if they’re still open after the deadline, Ajay Mitchell and Isaac Jones are worth monitoring as candidates to be promoted from two-way contracts, says Fischer.