Fischer’s Latest: RFAs, Warriors, White, Young, Celtics
During Thursday’s Bleacher Report live stream (YouTube link), NBA insider Jake Fischer reiterated multiple times that he expects the four primary restricted free agents — Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Quentin Grimes (Sixers) and Cam Thomas (Nets) — to continue to be in contract standoffs with their respective teams for some time.
“Again, we are still in a holding pattern with all these restricted free agents, and we are — at this juncture — expecting all those situations to linger deeper into August and get into September as well,” Fischer said. “Don’t expect a resolution for Jonathan Kuminga, for Josh Giddey, for Quentin Grimes, for Cam Thomas, anytime soon.”
According to Fischer, the Warriors haven’t shown any interest in what the Kings and Suns have offered in sign-and-trade scenarios for Kuminga. But they also don’t want to lose the former lottery pick for nothing in return.
“Jonathan Kuminga’s side, I believe, right now, would be willing to take a two-plus-one with a player option three-year deal,” Fischer said. “I think that Jonathan Kuminga’s side would take this one-plus-one situation with Golden State — this two-year, $45MM offer that’s been on the table — if he were to get a player option in year two.
“But I was told yesterday from various sources that Golden State is going to be holding firm … that second year is going to be a team option. And that’s kinda where this staring contest is at.”
Here’s more from Fischer:
- The Warriors currently have only nine players signed to standard contracts, with the Kuminga stalemate continuing to hold up their other offseason business. Fischer suggested that Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II are likely to be signed after Kuminga’s situation is resolved. Malcolm Brogdon and Seth Curry remain on Golden State’s radar as well, according to Fischer, with Javonte Green another player mentioned.
- The Bulls are monitoring Coby White‘s upcoming free agency, Fischer said. White will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026, and Fischer noted that there has been talk of White wanting a contract that exceeds $30MM annually. That expectation may be factoring into the calculation of Chicago playing a level of hardball with Giddey’s restricted free agency.
- Thomas looks the most likely of the four RFAs to accept his qualifying offer, Fischer confirmed. The high-scoring guard views himself as a $30MM+ per year player, but the Nets haven’t approached that figure and have only offered him short-term deals to this point, Fischer said.
- While Fischer confirmed the latest reports on Trae Young‘s disappointment at the lack of an extension offer from the Hawks, he said that it was also somewhat expected by Young’s camp. Fischer called this season an opportunity for Young to maximize a roster built to complement his game, as well as an opportunity for the new front office to evaluate the players on the roster. If Young is able to maximize the team’s potential and earn All-NBA honors, he’d be eligible for a much more lucrative extension, and he also has a 2026/27 player option he could decline to enter free agency next year as possibly the top free agent on the board.
- Prior to dealing him to the Jazz, the Celtics had talks with the Grizzlies during Summer League about a deal that would send Georges Niang to Memphis, according to Fischer, who said a rumored framework of Anfernee Simons for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was never discussed. Fischer noted that before RJ Luis signed a two-way deal with the Jazz, he was considering signing with the Celtics. The Jazz are expected to keep Niang as a veteran leader. Fischer also said that he’s not as confident that Simons gets traded before the season starts as he was that Niang would be dealt.
- Fischer confirmed that Bennedict Mathurin is on track to receive a bigger role this season with the Pacers due to Tyrese Haliburton‘s injury, and that Mathurin is also hoping to secure a deal that would pay him $20-30MM per year. Fischer added that many of the unsigned rookie scale extension candidates likely won’t finalize new deals until the October deadline.
Eli Cohen contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Quickley, Clarkson, Pagliuca, Maxey
A signing completed by the Raptors in July 2024 is looming over large over the current offseason, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (YouTube link), who points to the five-year deal Immanuel Quickley signed as a restricted free agent last offseason as a major outlier. That contract had a base value of $162.5MM, with an additional $12.5MM in bonuses. It’s worth $32.5MM per year, with a maximum value of $35MM per year.
“The Immanuel Quickley contract has totally screwed up restricted free agency,” Marks said. “Because that’s where agents are looking at like the benchmark. Certainly, (Bulls guard) Josh Giddey‘s like, ‘I want that contract.’ That number has screwed up a lot of things.”
As Marks goes on to explain, while the agents for extension candidates or current restricted free agents like Giddey will be eager to use the Quickley deal as a point of comparison for their clients, teams around the NBA haven’t been willing to go that high for players with somewhat similar résumés.
“… I don’t think Toronto got enough heat for that number,” Marks continued. “Because Immanuel Quickley is not a $32, $33 million guy.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- It has been so long since Jordan Clarkson played meaningful basketball that it’s difficult to predict exactly what he’ll bring to the Knicks in 2025/26, one Western Conference scout tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). Clarkson remains a talented scorer and one team source believes he’s “exactly what we needed” off the bench, Bondy writes, though a veteran NBA coach notes that the veteran guard comes with some downside too. “High-level shooter. Good going right,” the coach said. “Wild-card-type player. Throw him out there and see if he can get hot. But there’s not much else from a production standpoint. And it’s ugly on defense.”
- Jennifer Rizzotti, the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, said on Sunday that a deal to sell the franchise to Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca is “not quite at the finish line yet” and that the Sun will remain in Connecticut for the 2026 season, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. While both Rizzotti and Pagliuca (Twitter link) offered statements about the potential transaction, neither one disputed the fact that the plan is to move the team to Boston by 2027. Pagliuca spoke repeatedly in his statement about keeping the franchise “in New England.”
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at the off-court work Tyrese Maxey is doing in the Philadelphia community, noting that Maxey’s foundation donated $60K this weekend while the Sixers guard hosted a free basketball camp for kids on Saturday.
Stein’s Latest: Kuminga, Doncic, Vucevic, Fox, Love
Jonathan Kuminga‘s restricted free agent negotiations with the Warriors continue to be one of the top lingering storylines of the NBA offseason. Following up on recent reports indicating that Kuminga has turned down a two-year, $45MM offer with a team option on the second year, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) notes that the team’s request for the forward to waive his implicit no-trade clause is part of the holdup.
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract or a two-year deal with a second-year option gets the right to veto trades for the rest of the season, but that right can be waived as part of the contract agreement. Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince, and Jeff Green are among several players who have waived their veto rights when re-signing with their respective teams this summer.
A player in that position who consents to a trade – either by waiving his veto rights when he signs or by eventually approving an in-season trade – would lose any form of Bird rights as part of the deal and would have Non-Bird rights at the end of the season.
Aside from the contract negotiations, Stein writes that while Kuminga has returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he is still not expected to play in FIBA’s AfroBasket tournament this summer. No official decision has been announced yet, but it’s unlikely that Kuminga would suit up for the Congolese team if his contract situation remains unresolved.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Much has been made about Luka Doncic‘s three-year max extension with the Lakers and what it means for him and the team’s future, but Stein points out an important detail regarding the timeline of the deal. The contract would allow Doncic to become an unrestricted free agent in 2028 when he has more than eight years of NBA service and four seasons with his current team, which means he would be eligible for a no-trade clause if he were to wait until ’28 free agency to sign a new contract with the Lakers. Stein writes that while Doncic will have technically played three-and-a-half years with the Lakers, he’d still meet the no-trade criteria because he would have finished four seasons with the Lakers, even if he started the first one in Dallas.
- While the offseason buyout market has been particularly active this offseason, Stein cautions fans not to expect Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to join the likes of Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard this summer. He writes that unless a trade materializes in the next couple of months, Vucevic will very likely begin next season in Chicago. There has been speculation that the veteran big man could be a prime mid-season buyout candidate if no deal occurs by February’s trade deadline.
- Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox became eligible on Sunday for a three- or four-year extension that would look like the one Doncic signed in L.A. However, Stein notes that with the rise of reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and the addition of Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick, there are questions league-wide about whether such a max deal is an automatic decision for San Antonio.
- Kevin Love is actively exploring landing spots in the case of a potential buyout from the Jazz after landing in Utah as a part of the Heat’s trade for Norman Powell, though Stein doesn’t name any possible suitors.
Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu Expects To Be Ready For Training Camp
Bulls swingman Ayo Dosunmu expects to be a full participant in training camp after his 2024/25 season was cut short by shoulder surgery, Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune reports (subscription required).
Dosunmu underwent left shoulder surgery in early March. He had an estimated four-to-six month recovery window.
“I feel great,” Dosunmu said. “I feel right on schedule if not ahead. I’m just excited for these next couple of months to really get in even better shape and be able to go out there.”
Dosunmu has been cleared for contact and is looking forward to scrimmaging against teammates such as Coby White and Matas Buzelis later this summer when Bulls players host an informal mini-camp in Miami, according to Poe.
Dosunmu appeared in 46 games this past season, making 26 starts and averaging a career-high 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest with .492/.328/.785 shooting splits. His shoulder injury may partially explain why his three-point shooting dropped off from a 40.1% success rate the previous season.
The 25-year-old is entering the final year of his three-year, $21MM contract. He will make $7.5MM next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, unless he’s signed to an extension.
Dosunmu was nagged by a shoulder injury over the last two years. At some point, he fractured the anterior of his non-shooting shoulder, creating weakness in the socket. That led at times to partial dislocation, resulting in numbness.
He tried to play through the pain but he dislocated his shoulder in a Feb. 20 game against the Knicks and toughed it out a few more games before being shut down.
Dosunmu projects to play regular minutes at the two and three and could slot into the starting lineup alongside guards Josh Giddey and Coby White, as he did frequently last season. He’ll be battling Kevin Huerter and Isaac Okoro, among others, for playing time.
International Notes: Dowtin, A. Traore, S. Johnson, Vucevic
After spending the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with the 76ers, free agent guard Jeff Dowtin is drawing interest from a handful of teams in Europe, Dario Skerletic of Sportando writes, citing a report from Tomer Givati of Israel Hayom.
According to Givati, Dowtin is engaged in talks with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Partizan Belgrade, and Fenerbahce, with Maccabi believed to be the favorite to sign him at this point.
Dowtin, 28, has four years of NBA experience, having appeared in games for five separate teams since entering the league in 2021. The 2024/25 season was his best, as he posted averaged of 7.0 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game across 41 outings, with a solid shooting line of .487/.400/.733.
Dowtin is no longer eligible for a two-way deal, so there may not be a clear path to an NBA roster spot this fall, making a move overseas a more appealing option.
Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:
- Former Lakers two-way player Armel Traore has signed a two-year contract with ASVEL, the French club announced today (via Twitter). The 6’9″ forward caught on with the Lakers after going undrafted in 2024 and appeared in eight games for the NBA club last season before being waived in February.
- Veteran forward Stanley Johnson, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft, will continue his career in Japan, having signed with Nagasaki Velca for the 2025/26 season, according to an announcement from the club (hat tip to Sportando). Johnson, 29, appeared in 449 regular season games for five NBA teams from 2015-23, but has spent the past two seasons in the G League and with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.
- A handful of EuroLeague teams are keeping an eye on Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, per a report from SportKlub, relayed by Sportando. Jake Fischer recently speculated in a Bleacher Report stream that a mid-season buyout may be a more likely outcome for Vucevic than a trade. However, the 34-year-old remains extremely productive – he averaged 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game with a .530/.402/.805 shooting line last season – and there has been absolutely no indication a buyout will materialize anytime soon. Even in the event of a buyout, Vucevic would presumably have no shortage of NBA offers.
Latest On Josh Giddey
Four weeks into the NBA’s 2025 free agent period, the Bulls and restricted free agent guard Josh Giddey are locked into a stalemate in their contract negotiations, but the two sides have remained engaged in discussions throughout the offseason and there’s mutual interest in working out a multiyear agreement, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
According to Cowley, the two sides are still apart by about $8-10MM per year. That lines up with previous reporting that indicated Giddey’s camp is seeking an average annual value of $30MM while the Bulls prefer a deal in the range of $20MM per year.
For what it’s worth, rival executives polled by Fred Katz and Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic leaned more toward the Bulls’ valuation than Giddey’s. The Athletic’s duo asked 16 sources who work in NBA front offices what they’d consider a “fair” contract for Giddey and 14 of them suggested an average annual value ranging from $20-25MM per year.
However, as Katz and Lorenzi note, 10 of those 16 respondents also said they’d give Giddey four or five guaranteed years, which speaks to a level of optimism about his long-term floor. Only four free agents – Naz Reid, Myles Turner, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Sam Merrill – have received at least four guaranteed years since free agency began.
“If you’re offering a four-year contract, you have to be correct,” one executive told The Athletic. “But Giddey, you could offer a four-year deal.
“Giddey is the anomaly because he might be good enough to be a four-year player. Nobody wants to go with long-term contracts because everybody wants this idea of flexibility. You wanna have the ability to (say), ‘You know what? My team’s not very good. Let’s pivot.'”
According to Katz and Lorenzi, four executives suggested a four-year, $100MM deal for Giddey, while the most bullish respondent said he’d be comfortable with a five-year, $125MM commitment.
Of course, it’s worth noting – as was the case when Katz conducted a similar poll on Jonathan Kuminga‘s value – that rival team executives, who will have their own contract negotiations to deal with and don’t want the market to be set too high, are more likely to take a conservative view when asked to project a player’s contract. In other words, the responses in a poll of 16 agents might look more like what Giddey and his representatives are seeking.
As Cowley writes, there’s no rush for the Bulls and Giddey to bridge the gap in the short term — the 22-year-old’s qualifying offer won’t expire until at least October 1, which is right around the time training camps will be getting underway.
Giddey got off to a slow start in his first season as a Bull after being acquired from Oklahoma City in exchange for Alex Caruso, but finished strong, particularly after the team traded Zach LaVine to Sacramento. Between the start of February and the end of the regular season, Giddey averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game with a shooting line of .491/.451/.801 across 25 outings.
Bulls Sign Billy Donovan To Multiyear Extension
Head coach Billy Donovan has signed a multi-year extension with the Bulls, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The team’s PR staff has confirmed the deal, according to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).
Charania’s sources say that negotiations between Donovan and the team began late last season and continued through this week. Chicago also reportedly gave extensions to executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley, keeping its current management team in place.
Donovan, 60, has a 195-205 record in five seasons with the Bulls. He has led them to just one playoff series, losing to Milwaukee in five games in 2022, and they have been ousted in the play-in tournament in each of the past three seasons. Despite limited on-court success, Johnson points out that Donovan still has strong support from ownership and the front office (Twitter link).
Donovan was among several established coaches the Knicks sought to interview last month after firing Tom Thibodeau. The Bulls, like all their counterparts, turned down those requests, and a report at the time indicated that Donovan is “in Chicago to stay.”
A former college star at Providence, Donovan built his coaching reputation by leading Florida to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007. He left for the NBA in 2015 and compiled a 243-157 record in five years with Oklahoma City. He led the Thunder to the playoffs each season and earned NBA Coaches Association Coach of the Year honors in 2020, but he and the team reached a mutual decision to part ways.
Although the Bulls were just 39-43 last season, players responded well to Donovan’s new approach of playing at a faster tempo. They finished sixth in the league in scoring at 117.8 PPG and tied for third by making 15.4 three-pointers per game. Chicago has parted with veterans such as Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan in recent years and has decided that Donovan is the right coach to transition into an emphasis on younger talent.
With Donovan’s extension out of the way, the next priority will be to resolve a contract standoff with restricted free agent Josh Giddey.
Latest On Raptors’ Search For New Head Of Basketball Ops
General manager Bobby Webster is running the Raptors‘ front office for now following the abrupt dismissal of Masai Ujiri at the end of June.
According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, Webster is interested in becoming Toronto’s new head of basketball operations on a permanent basis and seems to be the frontrunner to land the position, but there are a number of other candidates to monitor as well.
A source tells Grange that most of the names that have come up in the search process are “lower-tier executives” who would make sense as complementary additions working under Webster.
However, there are some veteran executives who appear to be in the mix, including Brampton native Marc Eversley, who is currently GM of the Bulls. As Grange writes, Eversley is a board member of Canada Basketball, was previously an assistant GM in Toronto, and has a solid relationship with Webster.
Pacers GM Chad Buchanan is another name on the Raptors’ radar, Grange reports.
According to Grange, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Keith Pelley has met with both Dwane Casey and Monte McNair about the position.
Casey is the Raptors’ former head coach and is currently an executive with the Pistons, while McNair was Sacramento’s GM for five years prior to parting ways with the organization after the 2024/25 season.
One league insider who spoke to Grange suggested that Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is MLSE’s top choice for the job, though Grange points out that lateral moves for executives under contract with other teams are difficult to pull off.
As for Ujiri, Grange says he would be “very surprised” if Toronto’s longtime former president accepted another NBA job for the upcoming season. In the future, Ujiri could be a candidate to lead an expansion team or run the NBA’s proposed European league, Grange writes.
That said, Ujiri will certainly be linked to any top executive roles that pop up in the coming months, according to Grange, who has heard speculation that the Heat could be a team to monitor, as Pat Riley recently turned 80 years old.
Fischer’s Latest: RFAs, Smart, Vucevic, Brogdon
In addition to sharing the latest updates on Nets guard Cam Thomas, NBA insider Jake Fischer checked in on the other three most notable remaining restricted free agents during his Bleacher Report live stream on Thursday, discussing Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Sixers guard Quentin Grimes.
Fischer stated that he doesn’t expect there to be resolution on either Giddey or Grimes this month (YouTube link) and expressed a belief that Grimes, Kuminga, and Thomas will eventually agree to short-term deals with their respective teams rather than long-term contracts (YouTube link).
While that leaves Giddey as the most likely player of the quartet to work out a longer-term agreement, Fischer added that he thinks Giddey’s dynamic with the Bulls is the “most strained” of the bunch right now, due to how the negotiations have played out so far (YouTube link).
Here’s more from Fischer:
- Before Marcus Smart agreed to a buyout with Washington and signed with the Lakers, the Wizards had “a ton” of trade discussions about the former Defensive Player of the Year, per Fischer (YouTube link). The Bucks, Hawks, and Heat were among the teams that spoke to the Wizards about possible deals involving Smart, according to Fischer, who says that Washington and Miami talked at one point about a trade that would’ve included Terry Rozier.
- Responding to a question about the possibility of the Bulls trading Nikola Vucevic, Fischer stressed that there isn’t much of a market for the veteran center (YouTube link). “I think at this juncture, we’re probably more likely to see a Nikola Vucevic buyout mid-season than we are to see a trade,” Fischer said. “Depending on how the market unfolds, depending on how injuries develop. There just really hasn’t been much of a Nikola Vucevic trade market in a while.”
- Fischer views the Timberwolves as perhaps the most logical landing spot for free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon (YouTube link). Fischer acknowledges that that Minnesota wants to give youngsters Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. more opportunities to establish themselves as rotation players, but notes that the team could use another veteran option to complement Mike Conley, who will turn 38 in October. “I think Minnesota still stands as a really good situation for Malcolm Brogdon and one that he’s been monitoring, one that the Wolves have checked in on,” Fischer said. “I’m not making a prediction, but I think that’s a good situation for Malcolm Brogdon.”
Central Notes: Pistons Offseason, Robinson, Buzelis, Prince
There’s still some unfinished business for the Pistons this offseason, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes in a subscriber-only story.
They could use a proven floor-spacer who can play power forward after trading Simone Fontecchio. Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland could attempt to fill that role behind starter Tobias Harris, but they’re undersized for that position.
The Pistons have a $14.3MM trade exception at their disposal, courtesy of their sign-and-trade transaction with Sacramento involving Dennis Schröder. They could use it in a variety of ways but don’t necessarily need to take advantage of it this offseason, since it doesn’t expire until next summer, Sankofa notes. They also must try to finalize rookie scale extensions with starters Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Acquired by the Pistons in a sign-and-trade with Miami, Duncan Robinson told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic that he works on the mental aspects of the game as much as his physical skills. “Having resilience has been, sort of, the calling card of who I aspire to be,” he said. “I’m a big believer in that, learning how to deal with setbacks and challenges is a skill as much as shooting or dribbling. And the skill is honed and acquired through repetition. The only way you can get better at dealing with it is having gone through it. So, that’s one area of my career where I feel like I’ve been very fortunate is that from a young age. … I was challenged early on, (asking myself), ‘Is this what you want to do? Is this what you want to be?’ And I always just kept coming back to, ‘Yeah, I mean, this is. I love basketball more than anything. It’s what I do, not necessarily who I am. But in terms of the game itself, it’s given me more than I ever could imagine.”
- During his second NBA season, Bulls forward Matas Buzelis will be tasked with initiating the offense and being a creator much more often than he was as a rookie, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. Buzelis got a taste of that during his two Summer League games, as plays were drawn up for him with that in mind. “Being a primary, secondary ball handler is like second nature to me,” he said. “I used to play (point guard) when I was younger, so it’s not really anything new to me. I think it’s just going to get better with time.”
- Forward Taurean Prince waived his implied no-trade clause in his two-year, veteran’s minimum contract with the Bucks, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. Prince signed the contract earlier this month. As Smith explains, Prince had an implied no-trade clause because the second year includes a player option and and he would lose his Early Bird rights if he’s traded and opts out.