Pistons Rumors: Duren, Thompson, Stars, Stewart, More
Little progress has been made in contract negotiations between the Pistons and restricted free agent center Jalen Duren, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
As Patterson writes, while Duren met with the Lakers and Kings when free agency opened to explore the possibility of sign-and-trade scenarios, there’s no indication that Detroit seriously entertained the possibility of actually moving him. Los Angeles subsequently acquired Walker Kessler from the Jazz, further limiting Duren’s leverage.
Retaining Duren remains the Pistons’ top offseason priority and the team is “confident” an agreement will eventually be reached, a league source told Patterson. That same source said both parties hope to work out a deal that’s mutually beneficial, and “all signs” currently point to the All-NBA big man re-signing with Detroit.
Here’s more on the Pistons from Patterson:
- Signing Ausar Thompson to a long-term rookie scale extension is another offseason priority for the Pistons, according to Patterson, but it’s less pressing than reaching a deal with Duren, since Thompson won’t be a restricted free agent until 2027.
- Although Detroit looked into trading for several big-name players — including Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Trey Murphy III — the team balked at the high asking price to make a move of that nature, multiple sources tell Patterson. Still, the front office likes the roster it has assembled, Patterson writes, and was pleased with the shooting help it acquired (Isaiah Joe, John Collins, Taurean Prince, and Gary Harris).
- The Pistons’ decision to trade Isaiah Stewart to Memphis was financially driven, according to Patterson, who points out that backup big man Paul Reed – who will earn a non-guaranteed $5.6MM salary – will make far less money than Stewart (a guaranteed $15MM) in 2026/27. Patterson also notes that Stewart had multiple public spats with the coaching staff in the playoffs over his limited playing time, though those incidents don’t seem to have factored much into the decision to move him.
- While the Pistons had some interest in re-signing Tobias Harris and briefly talked to him about a new deal, those initial conversations revealed a gap in valuation, a source tells Patterson, which led to Harris signing a two-year, $31MM deal with San Antonio. Detroit, meanwhile, gave Collins a three-year, $51MM contract via sign-and-trade, but only the first season is guaranteed.
- Detroit is optimistic Collins can be a long-term answer at power forward, per Patterson. He’s six years younger than Harris and the team thinks his ability to be both a lob threat and floor spacer should complement its young core of Cade Cunningham, Duren and Thompson.
- Patterson gets the sense that the Pistons are unlikely to make another significant external addition this offseason and wouldn’t be surprised if the opening night roster is similar to how it looks now.
Mavs, Pistons, Grizzlies, Clippers, Bucks, Wizards Finalize Six-Team Trade
The Mavericks, Pistons, Grizzlies, Clippers, Bucks, and Wizards have officially completed the six-team mega-deal that incorporates several separate trade agreements reported over the course of the past two weeks, with multiple clubs involved in the transaction sending out press release to confirm that it’s done.
The deal includes Santi Aldama being traded from Memphis to Dallas, Isaiah Stewart being sent from Detroit to Memphis, John Collins being signed-and-traded to the Pistons, and Khris Middleton being signed-and-traded to the Wizards, among other moving parts.
In total, 10 current NBA players are involved, along with an 11th draft-and-stash player – Tarik Biberovic – who will reportedly be signing a new contract with the Mavericks now that the trade is official.
As we outlined on Tuesday night, the full deal looks like this:
- Mavericks to acquire:
- Santi Aldama (from Grizzlies)
- Marcus Sasser (from Pistons)
- The draft rights to Tarik Biberovic (from Grizzlies)
- Pistons to acquire:
- John Collins (via sign-and-trade; from Clippers)
- Note: Collins signed a three-year, $51MM contract (more details here).
- Taurean Prince (from Bucks)
- Gary Harris (from Bucks)
- Either the Pistons’, Knicks’, or Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Grizzlies)
- The Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick (from Grizzlies)
- The Pistons’ 2032 second-round pick (from Grizzlies)
- John Collins (via sign-and-trade; from Clippers)
- Grizzlies to acquire:
- Isaiah Stewart (from Pistons)
- AJ Johnson (from Mavericks)
- D’Angelo Russell (from Wizards)
- The Warriors’ 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected; from Mavericks)
- The Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick (from Mavericks)
- The Lakers’ 2029 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- The Wizards’ 2033 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- The right to swap either the Grizzlies’ or Sixers’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) for the Jazz’s 2032 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- Bucks to acquire:
- Caris LeVert (from Pistons)
- The Bucks’ 2027 second-round pick (from Pistons)
- Either the Mavericks’ or Nets’ second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Pistons)
- Cash (from Clippers)
- Wizards to acquire:
- Khris Middleton (via sign-and-trade; from Mavericks)
- Note: Middleton signed a three-year, $17.6MM contract (more details here).
- The Mavericks’ 2033 second-round pick (from Mavericks)
- Khris Middleton (via sign-and-trade; from Mavericks)
- Clippers to acquire:
- The Pistons’ 2030 second-round pick (top-55 protected; from Pistons)
We published a series of previous stories on the Grizzlies’ acquisition of Stewart, the Pistons’ deal for Collins, the Mavericks’ addition of Aldama, the Bucks’ trade for LeVert, and the Wizards’ signing-and-trading for Middleton, so we won’t rehash the details from those articles at length here — you can check them out for more info on each component of the trade.
The upshot is that the Mavericks gave up some draft assets to add multiple potential rotation players; the Pistons made some changes in the frontcourt and on the wing while generating some additional cap flexibility; the Grizzlies swapped out Aldama for Stewart while taking on some unwanted salary and netting extra draft picks; the Bucks took on LeVert’s salary in order to land a couple second-round picks; the Wizards reacquired Middleton and moved off Russell’s expiring contract; and the Clippers generated a $17MM trade exception by signing-and-trading Collins.
L.A. wasn’t the only team to create an eight-figure trade exception as a result of the deal — the Pistons also generated one worth $15MM, which is equivalent to Stewart’s outgoing salary.
All six teams involved in the trade will now be hard-capped at the first tax apron for the rest of the 2026/27 league year, meaning their team salaries can’t surpass $209,015,000 between now and June 30, 2027. That’s unlikely to be an issue, given that none of them currently appear likely to even cross into luxury tax territory.
Sorting Out The Six-Team Trade Involving Stewart, Aldama, Others
After initially reporting earlier tonight that the Wizards‘ sign-and-trade acquisition of Khris Middleton would be combined with several separate trade agreements to form a single six-team mega-deal, Ohm Youngmisuk, with the help of colleague Shams Charania, has laid out the terms of that trade in a full story for ESPN.com.
There are a few new details within ESPN’s report, including the Clippers receiving a protected 2028 second-round pick from the Pistons while sending cash to the Bucks, which will help ensure that all six teams “touch” at least two other clubs in the deal. However, the story doesn’t include the specifics on each of the draft assets involved in the trade.
Based on ESPN’s reporting, several previous reports, and RealGM’s tracker of traded draft picks, here’s our best shot at what the final deal will look like:
Mavericks to acquire:
- Santi Aldama (from Grizzlies)
- Marcus Sasser (from Pistons)
- The draft rights to Tarik Biberovic (from Grizzlies)
- Grizzlies to acquire:
- Isaiah Stewart (from Pistons)
- AJ Johnson (from Mavericks)
- D’Angelo Russell (from Wizards)
- The Warriors’ 2030 first-round pick (top-20 protected; from Mavericks)
- The Rockets’ 2029 second-round pick (from Mavericks)
- The Lakers’ 2029 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- The Wizards’ 2033 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- The right to swap either the Grizzlies’ or Sixers’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable) for the Jazz’s 2032 second-round pick (from Wizards)
- Pistons to acquire:
- John Collins (via sign-and-trade; from Clippers)
- Note: Collins is reportedly signing a three-year, $51MM contract.
- Taurean Prince (from Bucks)
- Gary Harris (from Bucks)
- Either the Pistons’, Knicks’, or Bucks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; from Grizzlies)
- The Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick (from Grizzlies)
- The Pistons’ 2032 second-round pick (from Grizzlies)
- John Collins (via sign-and-trade; from Clippers)
- Bucks to acquire:
- Caris LeVert (from Pistons)
- The Bucks’ 2027 second-round pick (from Pistons)
- Either the Mavericks’ or Nets’ second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Pistons)
- Cash (from Clippers)
- Wizards to acquire:
- Khris Middleton (via sign-and-trade; from Mavericks)
- Note: Middleton is reportedly signing a three-year, $17.6MM contract.
- The Mavericks’ 2033 second-round pick (from Mavericks)
- Khris Middleton (via sign-and-trade; from Mavericks)
- Clippers to acquire:
- A top-55 protected 2028 second-round pick (from Pistons)
The deal isn’t yet official and therefore this breakdown should also be considered unofficial. But the final version of the trade should look pretty similar to this.
The deal has been two weeks in the making — the Grizzlies and Pistons first worked out a trade involving Stewart during the second night of the NBA draft on June 24. That was followed on July 1 by the Pistons and Clippers coming together on a Collins sign-and-trade and the Grizzlies and Mavericks agreeing to terms on an Aldama deal.
Then, earlier on Tuesday, the Bucks and Pistons reached an agreement on a trade involving LeVert, Prince, and Harris, the Mavs made a deal to sign-and-trade Middleton to the Wizards, and Washington agreed to salary-dump Russell to Memphis.
While most of those agreements could’ve been officially completed as separate deals, rolling them all into one will provide some cap benefits for various clubs.
For example, had they completed their Aldama deal directly with the Grizzlies, the Mavericks would have had to use most of their $20.8MM Anthony Davis traded player exception to accommodate the Spaniard’s incoming $17MM salary, since they were only sending Johnson ($3.2MM) to Memphis in that deal.
But including Middleton and aggregating his outgoing salary (roughly $5.6MM) with Johnson’s will be enough to meet the salary-matching requirements for Aldama, allowing Dallas to preserve that full $20.8MM Davis TPE. The Mavs can then use their bi-annual exception to absorb Sasser’s $5.2MM salary.
Memphis is in a similar boat. If they’d just acquired Stewart from Detroit in a straight-up deal, the Grizzlies would have needed to use over half of the $28.9MM exception they created in February when they traded Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah. But by folding in their Aldama deal and using his outgoing salary to legally match Stewart ($15MM), Johnson ($3.2MM), and Russell ($6MM), they can keep that full Jackson TPE intact.
The Pistons, meanwhile, will be able to use LeVert’s outgoing salary ($14.8MM) for matching purposes to acquire Collins, whose deal figures to start in the $16-18MM range. That will allow them to create new trade exceptions equivalent to Stewart’s ($15MM) and Sasser’s ($5.2MM) outgoing salaries.
The Wizards have a trade exception expiring this Thursday that still has $5,341,122 left on it after the team used part of it to absorb Deandre Ayton‘s $8.1MM salary on Tuesday. Washington will be able to use the rest of that exception before it expires to give Middleton a starting salary of $5,591,122 (the amount of the exception, plus a $250K buffer), then will create a new trade exception worth Russell’s outgoing salary (nearly $6MM).
The Clippers will also generate a trade exception worth Collins’ new salary (roughly $16-18MM).
When the dust settles, all six teams will be hard-capped at the first tax apron, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). The Pistons, Clippers, and Wizards faced first-apron hard caps already, based on prior transactions, while the Mavericks, Grizzlies, and Bucks will all join them as a result of using the “expanded traded exception” (ie. taking back more than 100% of a player’s – or players’ – salary) in the deal.
Pistons To Trade LeVert, Second-Rounders To Bucks For Prince, Harris
The Pistons are trading Caris LeVert and two second-round picks to the Bucks for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter). Pistons will create a traded player exception from the deal and gain cap savings.
Both of the picks Milwaukee will receive will come in next year’s draft, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit had controlled three 2027 second-rounders: their own, Milwaukee’s pick, and the least favorable of Brooklyn’s and Dallas’ selections. The latter two will head to the Bucks, per Eric Nehm and Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
All three players on are expiring contracts but LeVert has by far the biggest salary, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. LeVert will make $14,809,200 next season. Prince and Harris both have $3,815,861 salaries after exercising their player options.
The traded player exception created by the Pistons will be equivalent to LeVert’s outgoing salary. They will generate approximately $7.2MM in cap flexibility as a result of the deal. That extra breathing room below the tax line could be used to accommodate a new contract for restricted free agent Jalen Duren.
The Bucks will be LeVert’s sixth team, assuming Milwaukee doesn’t trade or release him. In 60 games off the bench last season, the 6’7″ guard averaged a career-low 7.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists. His shooting numbers were also down, as he made 41.7% of his overall field goal attempts and 33.3% of his three-point tries.
Milwaukee had controlled just two future second-round picks prior to this trade agreement, Marks notes, so that number will double to four as a result of the deal.
Prince missed most of last season after undergoing surgery in November to address a herniated disk in his neck. He appeared in 26 games, including seven starts, averaging 9.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. The veteran forward, who started 73 of 80 games for Milwaukee in 2024/25, is a career 38.7% three-point shooter and could find playing time at either forward spot for Detroit if he is indeed in the team’s plans.
Harris appeared in 48 games last season. With the Pistons already facing a logjam at shooting guard, it’s unlikely that Harris was anything more than a throw-in to this deal.
Bucks’ Gary Harris Picks Up $3.8MM Player Option
Bucks guard Gary Harris has exercised his $3.8MM player option for next season, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
Harris, 31, saw limited playing time in his first year with Milwaukee, logging 13.8 minutes per night in 48 games. He averaged a career-low 2.7 points per game, along with 1.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists, while shooting 44.2% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range.
Harris signed a two-year, $7.45MM contract with the Bucks last summer that included the player option, and he had a June 29 deadline to pick it up. He made $3.6MM this season.
Harris is a 12-year veteran who had a long career with Denver and Orlando before arriving in Milwaukee. As a reliable three-point shooter with an expiring contract, he could have some trade value as the Bucks look to get younger.
Milwaukee still has some uncertainty with its roster as Kevin Porter Jr. ($5.4MM), Gary Trent Jr. ($3.9MM), Taurean Prince ($3.8MM) and Jericho Sims ($2.8MM) all have player option decisions to make in the next week. The Bucks hold a $2.4MM team option on Andre Jackson Jr.
Central Notes: Buzelis, Niang, Gunn, McCaffery
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis will make his debut with the Lithuanian national team this summer, according to BasketNews.
Lithuania has a pair of qualifying games for the 2027 FIBA World Cup in early July. The team will face Great Britain on July 2 and Italy on July 5.
While the 21-year-old said he’d like to play for Lithuania during the second qualifying window in August, his availability for those contests is up in the air.
“For now, I’m still not sure whether I will play in the second window,” Buzelis said, per BasketNews. “I like to finish what I start, but the Bulls will make the decision. We’ll see, but as I said, I like to finish what I start.”
Here’s more from around the Central Division:
- Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was in Venice, Italy this week to watch draft-and-stash prospect Saliou Niang compete in the semifinals of the Lega Basket Serie A playoffs, writes Iacopo De Santis of PianetaBasket.com. Cleveland selected Niang with the 58th overall pick in the 2025 draft. The 22-year-old forward has spent the 2025/26 season with Virtus Bologna, which is currently facing a 2-1 deficit in its playoff series vs. Reyer Venizia. Niang averaged 7.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals in 21.7 minutes per game across 38 EuroLeague appearances this season.
- Indianapolis native CJ Gunn, who completed his senior season with DePaul in March, spoke to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files about working out for the Pacers on Wednesday and beginning his professional career. The 6’6″ wing spent a few weeks this spring playing for the Calgary Surge in the Canadian Elite Basketball League before taking part in the pre-draft process. Gunn told Agness he’s been leaning on veteran NBA guard Gary Harris, another local product, for advice. “Our families are real close-knit so he’s like my cousin,” said Gunn. “I go over to his house every weekend to work with him. After we get done working out and be able to sit down, have conversations about him or what coaches are looking for this whole process, his mindset when he was in it. And just him being a vet and being able to be in that moment and to pick his mind and to be a sponge. He’s definitely given me a lot of a lot of advice.”
- Connor McCaffery is rejoining the Pacers organization as a player development assistant with the Noblesville Boom, the team’s G League affiliate, Agness reports. A former Iowa Hawkeye, McCaffery spent the 2023/24 campaign in what he described as an “entry-level” job with the Pacers. He has spent the past two seasons in a coaching role at Butler, Agness notes.
Bucks Notes: Giannis, Kuzma, Dieng, Ryan
The Bucks fell behind early at home against Boston on Monday and never recovered, eventually getting blown out by a score of 108-81. Still, the team was encouraged to have star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo back on the court. The two-time MVP had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes and said after the game that he felt good, albeit a “little bit rusty,” per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
“It doesn’t matter if I play 18 minutes, 20 minutes, 22, whatever, I’m just happy that I’m out there,” said Antetokounmpo, who missed the previous 15 games due to a strained calf. “I’m just in a mindset where I try not to take nothing for granted. Obviously, did not play well tonight, but at the end of the day, I’m just happy that I’m out there being able to help my teammates in any way that I can and just do what I love, which is play basketball.”
That 15-game layoff represented the longest absence of Antetokounmpo’s 13-year career, and he’s on track to play his fewest games in a season since he entered the league. The 31-year-old observed on Monday that he has made a habit over the course of his career of beating his projected recovery timelines and returning from injuries early, but acknowledged that it’s a habit he might have to get away from in his 30s.
“Like, OK, yeah, hurt my groin, had to be out three weeks, four weeks, came back in like 10 days,” Antetokounmpo said, per Nehm. “But I’m 31 years old, just gotta be able to be more smarter moving forward because things that I was able to do in the past, maybe I’m not able to do now. And I’ve just gotta be more methodical with my rehab, the way I take care of my body, the way that I play, but yeah, that’s pretty much it. Moving forward, I just gotta be smarter.
“… I’m not 24 years old anymore. I’m 31. I’m still 31 years old. It’s not like I’m 36 or 37. But yeah, when you deal with a lot of soft tissue injuries, it’s hard. … If you’re not able to take care of your soft tissue injuries, they can linger. And I think that’s what has happened this year. I feel like I’ve been playing the whole year with like a deficit.”
We have more on the Bucks:
- Kyle Kuzma had the best game of his season in December at home vs. the Celtics when he scored 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting, but the veteran forward received a DNP-CD in Monday’s matchup with Boston. As Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, Kuzma’s DNP-CD was one of a few changes head coach Doc Rivers made to his rotation, as relative newcomer Ousmane Dieng entered the starting lineup and veteran wing Gary Harris saw his first extended stretch of playing time in several weeks.
- Dieng scored 13 points in a team-high 30 minutes on Monday, and Rivers sounded impressed by what he has seen through 10 games from the former lottery pick, Owczarski adds. “I loved what ‘Ous’ did,” Rivers said after the loss. “This young kid, we gotta give him as many minutes as we can while we’re trying to win games.”
- The two-way contract that guard/forward Cormac Ryan signed with the Bucks last week is a two-year deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. That means Milwaukee will have the option of hanging onto Ryan through the 2026/27 season before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency, though teams’ two-way slots typically undergo significant turnover each offseason.
Injury Notes: Garland, Suggs, Adebayo, Bucks, Pacers, Thiero
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland took an important step forward in his recovery from toe surgery by participating in a 5-on-5 contact scrimmage on Tuesday, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). While head coach Kenny Atkinson referred to as a positive development, he cautioned that it doesn’t mean Garland’s return is imminent.
“It was live. It was very short,” Atkinson said. “Now let’s see what tomorrow looks like. What does the recovery look like? We know this is not an easy injury to come back from. It’s just not. You see what happens in the NFL with this injury. It’s not linear, usually, the return to performance, and we’re hoping it will be and he’ll progress. But I side on the side of being conservative and making sure. This is a good step today. A small step but a good step.”
Sources who have spoken to Fedor have maintained that Garland still could miss the first 10-15 games of the regular season. With their starting point guard expected to be unavailable when the season tips off, the Cavs intend to start Sam Merrill in the backcourt alongside Donovan Mitchell, who will take on more ball-handling responsibilities, says Fedor.
We have several more injury-related updates from around the NBA:
- Magic guard Jalen Suggs did “a little bit” of contact work on Tuesday in a 3-on-3 setting, head coach Jamahl Mosley told reporters, including Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). It’s unclear whether Suggs will be able to play in Orlando’s remaining preseason game on Thursday or if he’ll be ready for the season opener next Wednesday.
- Heat big man Bam Adebayo exited Monday’s preseason game early due to a knee injury, but it’s just a contusion and wasn’t serious enough to require an MRI, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). While it remains to be seen if Adebayo will suit up in the team’s preseason finale on Friday, it sounds like he should fine for the start of the season.
- After Myles Turner (right calf soreness) and Gary Harris (right hamstring strain) sat out the Bucks‘ last preseason game on Tuesday, head coach Doc Rivers downplayed Turner’s issue and suggested he’ll be ready for the start of the season, but said Harris’ hamstring injury will likely sideline him for a week or two, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter links).
- The injuries that Pacers reserves Johnny Furphy (left ankle sprain) and Quenton Jackson (right hamstring soreness) are dealing with aren’t “serious,” according to head coach Rick Carlisle, but there’s no guarantee either player will be ready for opening night. “There’s a chance they could be back for the opening of the season, but I don’t know how big of a chance,” Carlisle said, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. The Pacers’ coach added Ben Sheppard, who has been out with an undisclosed injury, is “trending in a good direction” and could be available on Friday for the club’s preseason finale.
- Lakers rookie Adou Thiero remains sidelined due to swelling in his knee but has progressed to on-court activities, the team announced on Tuesday (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic). The Lakers added that Thiero will be reevaluated in approximately two or three weeks.
Bucks Sign Gary Harris To Two-Year Deal
July 8: The Bucks’ deal with Harris is official, the team announced in a press release.
“We are excited to welcome Gary to Milwaukee,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “Gary’s leadership and experience will provide further depth and stability to our backcourt, and his extensive playoff background will be instrumental during the postseason. We are thrilled for Gary to be a Buck.”
July 1: After making a pair of huge moves earlier on Tuesday morning, the Bucks have resumed filling out the edges of their roster. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), the team has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with free agent swingman Gary Harris.
While Charania doesn’t specify the financial details, it will likely be a minimum-salary contract for Harris. It will also include a second-year player option, Charania notes.
Harris, 30, saw his playing time decline in recent years in Orlando. He averaged just 14.8 minutes per game in 48 appearances in 2024/25, with averages of 3.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per night.
However, Harris has a long history of playing rotation minutes for both the Nuggets (2014-21) and Magic (2021-25) as a three-and-D wing. He has attempted 4.0 three-pointers per game over the course of his 11-year career and has knocked down 36.9% of them, including 38.8% since he arrived in Orlando as part of the Aaron Gordon trade in 2021. The veteran also earned praise from his Magic teammates this season for his play on defense, even in his limited role.
It has been a busy week so far for the Bucks. In addition to agreeing to terms to Harris, they’ve also struck deals to re-sign Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, and Gary Trent Jr. while unexpectedly landing a four-year commitment from Myles Turner and even more unexpectedly deciding to waive Damian Lillard and stretch his remaining salary to create short-term cap flexibility.
Knicks Notes: Free Agency, Diawara, Borrego, Coaching Search
Memphis shooting guard Luke Kennard and Detroit point guard Dennis Schröder are among the targets the Knicks could pursue in free agency, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Those are probably the best-case scenarios for New York given its limited resources, and there should be league-wide demand for both players, so the team may have to consider other options.
As Edwards explains, assuming they pick up Ariel Hukporti‘s $1.96MM option and decline a $3.5MM option on P.J. Tucker, the Knicks will have 10 players under contract with a total payroll of $196.3MM, which is already above the first apron and a little more than $10MM away from the second apron.
That leaves New York with the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception and minimum-salary contracts to fill out the roster, possibly along with second-round pick Mohamed Diawara.
Other free agents Edwards mentions as MLE possibilities are Cleveland guard Ty Jerome, Phoenix guard Tyus Jones and former Orlando guard Gary Harris. He adds that Knicks free agents Landry Shamet and Delon Wright could return on minimum salaries and points to Charlotte guard Seth Curry and Indiana center Thomas Bryant as other potential minimum-salary additions.
There’s more from New York:
- The Knicks haven’t decided if Diawara, a 20-year-old French power forward, will be with the team next season or if he’ll be stashed overseas, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. A league source tells Bondy that the Frenchman is expected to play in the Las Vegas Summer League next month. Diawara didn’t put up great numbers in France this season, but Bondy notes that the Knicks are intrigued by his athleticism and his 7’4″ wingspan. Bondy also hears that New York attempted to trade up for the top pick in the second round to grab St. Joseph’s forward Rasheer Fleming, who went to Phoenix instead.
- Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego‘s interview for the Knicks’ coaching vacancy will take place this weekend, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). He’ll be the fourth candidate to interview, joining Taylor Jenkins, Mike Brown and Micah Nori.
- Andy Miller, an NBA agent who represents several members of the Mavericks‘ coaching staff, recently criticized the Knicks for their unusual approach to their coaching search, which included asking permission to interview five head coaches who are already under contract, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “I don’t really know where Jason Kidd is in his process with the Knicks,” Miller said on Sirius XM Radio, “because I don’t really know what the process is with the Knicks. … I don’t even know if the Knicks know what their process is.”