How Paul George remains a key to the free agent market

Whatever NBA theatrics come — once the clock strikes 6 p.m. ET, once free agents can begin contacting potential teams, several more trades will shake up the league landscape like a snow globe. – This July will offer the first case study of how front offices work and how agents will navigate the new math and restrictions that come with the second apron of a collective bargaining agreement.

This is the last reference to Paul George declining his player option and testing the open market. That’s the cold, hard truth that outlines Denver’s plight to retain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after losing Bruce Brown just a year ago. That’s why the Warriors have attempted to find trades such as unloading George with Chris Paul’s non-guaranteed salary, sources said, because Golden State can still retain its valuable salary slot and have Stephen Curry around. Can further improve the roster.

It doesn’t matter whether Steve Ballmer or Joe Lacob have unlimited pockets and are willing to pay the penalty for sneaking into the NBA’s new second apron, like last year’s luxury tax. The ability to foot that bill doesn’t give front offices a get-out-of-jail-free card that suddenly grants any mid-level access to spending power, the ability to collect salaries in trade, send cash or trade player exceptions. Provides the ability to use. – Not to mention frozen draft picks looking like bogeymen. It’s one thing if six of the Boston Celtics’ top eight players are under contract and under the age of 30. The Knicks’ dangerous core is even smaller and more team-controlled. It’s another matter that the aging star veteran is possibly looking at the final contracts of his illustrious career.

The Clippers have made it clear thus far that they have no intention of giving any player – not Kawhi Leonard, not George, not James Harden – a contract longer than three years, league sources told Yahoo Sports. There is no intention. The Angels have future flexibility to avoid second apron penalties. The two sides had several months to find an extension similar to Leonard’s three-year, $153 million deal in January, sources said, with various offers exchanged, but the Clippers agreed to a fourth-year deal. The significant shortfall, what could have been a difference of some $60 million, prompted George to listen to offers from the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic after free agency began, sources told Yahoo Sports as well as George’s current Clippers. to be confirmed. The reality that trading George to Golden State would have returned 75 cents on the dollar — still cost a dollar and still brought second-apron challenges — were major obstacles in those volatile trade discussions.

Sources said both the 76ers and Magic are willing to offer George a four-year max contract, as were the Warriors, if George exercises his $48.7 million player option for this upcoming 2024-25 season. Would. There is another team also present on the periphery of this situation. The Utah Jazz have the cap space, veteran salary and immense draft capital to add all kinds of co-stars — such as Mikal Bridges, who at one time the team attempted to land this week, sources said in New York. That’s before spending six years of first-round draft assets for the Villanova product — to complete a roster that already includes All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. This appears to have been Utah’s dreamiest plot this summer, with one or two more real pieces to tempt George to flee Los Angeles for Salt Lake City, according to league figures with knowledge of the situation. To do business for. How George ended up in Los Angeles in 2019 – when the Clippers sent OKC a bounty for his services, and thus added Leonard – is fascinating, though incredibly unlikely George makes it a reality.

Sources said George may not want to leave Los Angeles because of some rift with President Lawrence Frank or some dislike of playing with Leonard and Harden. It seems the 34-year-old All-Star, who is already barred from signing a five-year contract due to the NBA’s over-38 rule, is cashing in on his last swing standing at the plate on the open market. , If George flees the Clippers, Harden is still expected to get his three-year deal as Los Angeles looks for ways to get under the second apron to open up access to the $5.2 million taxpayer midstream, sources said . The Clippers are expected to reach an extension deal with center Ivica Zubac later in their run, sources said.

What are the Golden State Warriors’ plans?

The Warriors are facing a dilemma of their own, having already agreed to terms with Paul for the final year of his contract through the guarantee date and $30 million on his deal. What major changes are still pending, as Golden State has also put Andrew Wiggins on the trade block, according to league sources. Sources said the options are a variety of options, ranging from sending picks for Brandon Ingram to potentially acquiring Zach LaVine. But if a deal does not come to fruition, and the Warriors do indeed lose Klay Thompson to Golden State and league personnel currently believe that will happen, then the Warriors are considering their best options , sources said, with the exception of a full mid-tier who could be available to Golden State.

That market is one of the more interesting aspects of this offseason, where it appears most NBA teams are planning to use less than the entire $12.8 million MLE amount. Another aspect of the new CBA allows front offices to not spend that MLE this summer, and then use it as a traded-player exception to acquire any new pieces, Whose salary comes under that number. A player’s appetite for $6 million could also be the difference between a player like Buddy Hield earning more than a $5.2 million taxpayer MLE. For example, if Hield were to be traded from Golden State, the Warriors could sign another player for $4 million over the NBA’s veteran minimum salary, or acquire that remaining space as a TPE.

And it’s becoming a lucrative mid-tier market, especially as word is spreading among league personnel that Thompson might be willing to take that amount of money to join the Lakers or Clippers. That would be a steep drop from the two-year, approximately $50 million offer Thompson rejected at the start of this past season. Sources said George would remain on the list of secondary wing options for Philly if he spurns the Sixers. It appears that Dallas is one of them, if not The strongest contender for Thompson, sources said.

Dallas has a lot of work to do on the perimeter. The Mavericks already offloaded Tim Hardaway Jr.’s $16.1 million contract to Detroit along with three second-round picks, bringing back 24-year-old swingman Quentin Grimes, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal and $4.3 million. Is back with dollars. Adding Grimes could, through a lens, allow Dallas to part ways with Josh Green to upgrade the Mavericks’ competitive roster with more championship-proven talent. A sign-and-trade scenario with Green serving as his outgoing salary could allow Dallas to offer Thompson a nice contract.

The Mavericks are thinking quite creatively about how to improve the roster around NBA Finals players Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving — while still retaining standout wing defender Derrick Jones Jr. The first step was to move Hardaway. If Caldwell-Pope had picked up his $15.4 million option for 2024-25, the Mavericks would have been waiting at the front of the line to try to swing a trade with Denver to acquire his services, sources said . Thompson now appears to be the most likely veteran wing to join Dallas at this time.

All of this tinkering was originally done against the backdrop of an attempt to reward Jones with a minimum-salary contract for 2023-24, but there will now be some complications after the bouncy wing terminated his previous representation on June 26. By letter from the players’ union, Jones technically can’t sign with a new agent until 15 days after filing the paperwork to make the agency change — which won’t happen until the NBA’s moratorium period ends. This is a developing situation worth monitoring.

The Nuggets’ optionality involving the potential loss of Caldwell-Pope adds to all of the above. Denver was also a team that considered how to enter a potential opt-in-trade sweepstakes for George, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports. Sources said Denver is currently bracing for losing the veteran two-way wing, who was an integral fifth starter to the Nuggets’ run to the 2023 NBA title. Caldwell-Pope is said to be receiving strong interest from both Philadelphia and Orlando, with both teams willing to give Caldwell-Pope a contract of more than two years and $50 million, according to league personnel.

The Nuggets are also engaged in trade scenarios for backup big man Zeke Nnaji, sources said. Denver had given the 23-year-old from Arizona a chance to claim a clear reserve role behind Nikola Jokic, but traded up to select a potential replacement in Dayton center Darron Holmes II in Wednesday’s NBA Draft. Nnaji’s $8 million salary could be an outgoing package that could, for example, bring back Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic from Charlotte, who has been a target for Denver, sources said.

If Denver moves Nnaji it gets the Nuggets under the second apron, and will gain access to a $5.2 million taxpayer MLE. Sources said one player the Nuggets were considering for that role was Russell Westbrook, before the veteran opted to commit to a $4 million deal with the Clippers.

Another veteran player to consider in that ballpark is Dario Saric, who the Nuggets have wanted for some time, sources said.

After Denver did not extend its qualifying offer to Collin Gillespie, the former Villanova point guard is expected to attract two-way interest from Atlanta, Charlotte, Minnesota and Phoenix, sources said, with a chance for a two-way and ultimately roster spot. To earn a place. According to NBA personnel, the Suns have been linked to all kinds of guards from Kyle Lowry to Monte Morris for minimum salary — and even a possible reunion with Paul if he’s ultimately waived by the Warriors. Needed